Game Concept: Extraction / Rescue Me / VIP

Video Game Concept: Persistent Hostage Rescue

In most games, rescuing a captured character is totally scripted and the player cannot affect the character’s rescue in any way. Some games that do allow the player to influence the outcome, usually do so in an escort type sequence where the hostage follows the player around and the player must keep them alive by eliminating enemies.

These scripted scenarios can be very frustrating narrative wise, especially when the player gets so close to the target, only to have them snatched away, or separated by a pane of indestructible glass while they are tortured, executed or dragged away. However, in the flow of these scenarios if the player were able to reach the hostage at any time or upon failing to reach them by a certain time would result in an early end to the game’s scenario or eliminate a large chunk of play time.

This concept explores the idea of a game that would focus on these situations and allow the player the option of recovering or losing the hostage by their own active decisions and strategies. Over the coarse of the game, the player/s will have too make decisions that affect the quality of the final outcome, not so much pass or fail.

Modern-ish Setting (non-specific)

Multiple Hostages

Real Time Actions

Timed Missions

Random generation of hostages, enemies, and/or transport routes, locations

Player Character Customization

Player Budget

Multiplayer Co-op 2-4

Bot Support

Information gathering

Environmental Interaction

Health  + Stamina + Armor + Skill + Equipment

The Setup

The Player/s are part of a law enforcement group (assume to highly trained and well funded) who are currently on a mission to recover a group of VIP hostages before they can be executed or moved to the enemy Headquarters.

The enemy is assumed to be a well funded black market equipped group with plans to cause destruction on a global or continental scale. They need the hostages alive for the information or expertise they carry and are not likely to kill them, even to keep them from being rescued, at least until they have served the enemy’s purpose.

Each hostage is being held and moved separately so the player/s must rescue them one at a time, or they can split up (online multiplayer only) to attempt separate missions with a greatly decreased chance of success.

Rescue a Hostage: If the player can free a VIP from their captors and remove them alive (injured or not) to a safe zone (chopper, armored car, safe house, etc) then they will receive clues as to the nature of the enemy objective and how they might forestall it.

Dead Hostage: Failing to recover a hostage alive gets you nothing.

Capture an Agent: Each hostage is being held by an enemy agent with unique appearance and abilities. To capture that agent alive gets you no information but access to new equipment and/or monetary bonuses

Kill an Agent: Killing an enemy gets you cash/experience rewards. Killing an agent gets you larger rewards, the same reward as capturing them alive, but without the bonus.

Capture a Minion: Enemy troops can be captured or subdued alive. Doing so gives a small cash/exp bonus and may reward the player with a key, code, map or some other tidbit of information about the immediate area that will help the player/s survive and complete their mission successfully.

Kill a minion: Killing an enemy troop will give the same cash/exp bonus as if they were captured, but no bonus information. Physical keys and intel must be recovered by searching their bodies while digital or verbal information are lost.

Player Injury: If a player character is damaged, their body armor may negate it, resulting in a temporary slight blurring to vision. Damage not stopped by armor results in loss to Life Points that cannot be recovered without using a first aid skill or medkit.

Player Wounded: If a player character receives an injury to a critical location or with a sufficiently powerful weapon they are wounded and begin to bleed out along with taking normal damage. If that player or another player/character cannot stop the bleedout before their life reaches zero they character is dead. After stabilizing the character, they can be healed normally. While a character is bleeding out they are considered to be crawling with their vision blurring more and more.

Player Dead: If a player character dies, then they are dead for the remainder of that mission. They will respawn as a new character at the beginning of the next mission. Alternatively they may respawn as or with reinforcements at random/scripted locations. A dead player character may then be moved to an NPC ally on the map or take command of an information monitoring scree, where they use limited data to help direct and coordinate the other players with similar skills and abilities they had earlier.

Character Budget

Player/s start each mission with a cash budget. The amount of that budget may be influenced by multiple factors (each mission set is treated as part of one campaign, not as drop in missions). At the beginning of the campaign (or very beginning of the game introduction) players are allowed a limited amount of funds to purchase weapons, equipment and training to define their character. At the beginning of each mission they are allowed to use any additional funds they have acquired to restock or upgrade.

Character experience

All player’s start with the same stat line and access to the same equipment. As they complete missions, gather information, get kills, etc they earn XP. XP gets them new ranks. New ranks gets them a point to boost one of their stats and access to more equipment to purchase. It also makes older equipment cheaper to purchase the higher the level they are (10% per level?).

Character Customization

Stats – All characters start with the same stats. They can upgrade their stats at each level. They can also augment those stats with Skills and Training.

Health: A character’s hit points, toughness, etc. How much damage they can take until they are dead.

Stamina: How long a character can run without stopping or slowing down for breath. Also how long a character can focus on a difficult task like defusing a bomb or administering first aid to themselves before passing out. As a character is injured and their health depletes, so does their maximum stamina until they are healed. If a character is wounded and bleeding out, their stamina also slowly depletes.

Strength: How physically strong a character is. This influences their ability to carry more equipment without slowing down, their melee damage, and their ability to access certain areas by lifting doors or bending bars. Also influences throwing distance and recoil control.

Intelligence: How smart a character is influences their firing accuracy, ability to hack computers, pick locks, administer first aid more quickly and ability to use intel.

So first you choose if you want to build a strong character or a smart character. The player can create multiple characters (say limit 4) that they can create at the beginning of a new campaign and swap between each mission.

Strong characters can carry more equipment and more powerful weapons and excel in dealing damage.

Smart characters have better first shot accuracy and boost their ability to use skills and equipment, making them very focused in their abilities.

Skills – Skills and training are a group of passive abilities that the character earns or purchases that augments their stats and actions.

Skills vs Training – Training can be purchased with cash or are unlocked as the character ranks up, meanwhile skills are earned as the character completes specific actions, like stopping an ally from bleeding out 10 times may unlock a Medic Skill which reduces the amount of stamina/time it takes to stop a character from bleeding out (including themselves).

How many Skills can a character have activated at once? 2-4 skills. Some skills can be upgraded over time for better results, others may stack together for even greater effect.

Ignore Pain – Vision blur from injury is reduced by half.

Tough Hide – Bleed out time is extended

Second Wind – A character’s Stamina Recovery is reduced by half.

Sprinter – A character runs faster but at increased stamina drain

Get to Cover – Crawling while bleeding out doesn’t drain stamina.

Clear Headed – While bleeding out, vision does not blur.

Pack Training – character is allowed to carry heavy loads but suffers from increased stamina drain

Fireman – Allows the character to move another character at full movement speed

Stealth – Reduces the sound the character makes while moving

Stunt Man – Reduces the damage a character takes from falling, swinging, jumping, sliding or other such movement hazards.

First Aid – reduces time it takes heal damage with a medkit

Medic – Reduces time it takes to stop bleedout with a medkit

Doctor – Character can heal and stop bleedout without a medkit

Hacker – Reduces the time it takes to hack a device

Cracker – Reduces the time it takes to pick a lock or open a combination

Defuser – Reduces the time it takes to defuse a bomb

Sniper Training – Reduces aiming sway

Spotter Training – Improves the chances of critical hits on marked targets.

Martial arts – Melee attacks can be combed

Wrestler – Melee takedowns are faster and quieter

Driver – increases the response of ground vehicles

Pilot – increases the response of air vehicles

Mariner – Increases the response of water vehicles

Roles – A player’s role determines their resources and how they impact the mission. Any player can take any role and they can abandon their position at any time. If a role is needed and a player cannot fill it then it is occupied by an NPC.

Pointman – The primary player position, the soldier on the ground. The primary combat role and the one most responsible for handling the VIPs. All 4 players can take this role.

Marksman – Sometimes a mission can benefit from having a sniper or gunner outside the mission zone to aid in entry or cover a retreat. @ players can be support as a sniper with a spotter, a pair of snipers, a pair of gunners or a heavy gunner with loader.

Support – Mission support comes from information control. The support role operates from a station that gives them access to anything from internal security systems of a building, satellite imagery, drones and airstrikes. A station may be on the ground or in a vehicle. Support characters are typically non-combat or indirect combat and help the rest of the team by placing beacons and identifying points of interest. Only one character can be support.

Driver – In many missions vehicles will be available one way or another, having a dedicated driver or pilot on hand to keep the engine running or to swoop in with fire support, give chase or escape with the VIP. Only one character can be the driver but depending on the mission and the vehicle, support and marksman  or even the entire team may start or spend the whole mission on board.

Equipment – A character brings all kinds of devices to aid their mission outside of regular combat. Some equipment like breaching charges can be used like weapons but are not designed for active combat.

Kits – Reconnaissance, Medic, Disguise/Infiltration, Demolition, Electronic Warfare

Purchased Vehicles – At the beginning of a mission one or more players may spend cash to requisition a vehicle for that mission only. These vehicles tend to be high performance with bulletproof glass, panels, tires and some may come with built in weapons or Support stations.

Stolen Vehicles – Players may need immediate transportation, doing so requires hotwiring a vehicle on hand. These vehicles tend to have lower performance than purchased vehicles and may prompt the local police to give chase.

Customizing vehicles – Each player spends cash to modify and upgrade their own fleet of vehicles. Players must then again spend or share cash to bring them into a mission. Only the Driver can bring a vehicle otherwise transport must be stolen.

Motorcycle – Two person vehicle that may include forward machineguns. Passengers can fire one handed weapons. Not good for VIP evacuations but they are highly maneuverable with superb acceleration.

Sportscar – Two person vehicle with light armor, may include dual machineguns and the passenger can fire any weapons. Good for escapes and pursuits with high acceleration.

Sedan – 4 person armored car good for most situations. Passengers can fire all weapons.

Jeep – 4 person vehicle with high off road performance

Truck – A two person vehicle with a bed that can be configured to carry 3 more people or a mounted weapon, machinegun, rocket launcher or cannon.

Van – An armored 5 person vehicle with low performance that may include Support stations.

Armored Truck – A heavily armored 5 person vehicle with low performance but incredibly difficult to stop.

Chopper – A 5 person helicopter loaded with a support station, machinegun and rocket pods.

Boat – An armored jet boat that seats 5 people, comes with dual machineguns and grenade launcher with a support station.

Other Upgrades – GPS tracking, night vision, oil slick/caltrops, auto-inflate tires, radar, turbo boost, Self-destruct, Smoke Screen

Weapons – Weapons are any tool used to damage, kill or incapacitate a target aside from bare hands. It is very easy to get a hostage killed with heavy firepower so use discretion.

Modular weapons – One idea is that all players start with the same pistol and rifle and can be modified through various kits and attachments rather than acquiring totally different weapons.

Pistol – One handed gun. Standard, High power, rapid fire, high accuracy, Stun/tranq gun

SMG – one or two handed guns with a high rate of fire and deep magazine. Standard, high power, high accuracy

Assault Rifle – Two handed guns for medium range combat. Standard, high power, high accuracy, rapid fire

Machinegun – Powerful medium range weapons with large magazines. Made for defensive fire or mounted on vehicles/buildings.

Sniper Rifle – Powerful and accurate long range gun given to snipers.

Shotgun – Powerful close range weapon generally carried by enemies as a defensive weapon

Grenades – One time use thrown weapons with various effects. Frag, Concussion, Smoke, tear, chaff, incendiary

Bombs – Explosives that are planted in buildings or on vehicles that explode with a timer or a remote detonator

Mines – Mines are another type of bomb that explodes either on contact or by proximity.

Launchers – A Ranged weapon that fires an explosive round like a grenade or rocket or missile. Only to be used against clusters of enemies or vehicles.

Tazer – a non-lethal melee knock out weapon.

Gloves – Gloves with knuckles improve the damage of melee strikes (non-lethal) while gloves with garrotes make assassinations silent.

Blades – A blade can be thrown in melee or make silent assassinations

Weapon Attachments – Some weapons can equip devices that may make them more efficient in combat or for a particular mission.

Scopes – Increase zoom and aiming accuracy

Laser – helps make accurate shots without aiming

Lamp – Good for seeing in the dark and blinding enemies

Silencers – Decreases the chance enemies will hear shots and be alerted.

Magazine – some weapons can carry larger magazines, increasing how many rounds they can carry and how long they can fire between reloads.

Ammo – Some weapons can use different kinds of ammunition like armor piercing, soft point, match grade, sub sonic, incendiary, explosive or rubber.

Dual Wield – One Handed weapons have the option of doubling up. This allows a player to fire twice as many rounds in the same amount of time but with reduced accuracy and longer reloads.

Launcher – Some Two-handed weapons can take advantage of a secondary launcher attachment. Examples include assault rifles with grenade launchers or shotguns and SMGs or Pistols with non-lethal stun-gun attachments.

Primary Weapon – Your main combat weapon, could be anything

Secondary Weapon – Your backup weapon, pulled from the melee or pistol/one-handed list. Support and Drivers may only have access to this weapon slot (and pick up other primary type weapons in the field if they abandon their position)

Rescue Scenarios/Missions

Scenarios by design must be scripted but what counts is what changes. Which hostage is which can influence who is taken on first. Which Agent is guarding them can alter the difficulty of the mission and the types of special enemies that appear. Also how long the hostage is in their transport makes them harder to rescue as they get further away from the players.

Depending on how and how well players complete their missions, more options may become available for future missions.

Small/Medium/Large – The size of the building indicates how many levels, rooms and enemies it has to search through.

Rural – Indicates a spot out in the woods or the water removed from access to things like other buildings, vehicles or anything else of use.

Urban – a City or settlement where multiple buildings can be found and vehicles are available for use. A great abundance of options can be found here, just be careful not to attract too much attention or players may have local authorities after them as well.

Bunker – An industrial or military installation that is very difficult to get in to and even harder to enter undetected. Players can expect heavy combat, and difficult challenges. The final mission area would be a bunker and there may be other smaller bunkers to crack if the players fail to recover a VIP too many times or in enough time.

Foot – A VIP being run from room to room or building to vehicle is being dragged or carried by enemies that will trail and try to stall the players. Be careful about shooting because they will use the hostage as a human shield.

Car – A VIP being moved by car is at a high risk of death just by being there. A traffic accident from shooting out tires at high speed or being forced off the road could kill everyone inside. Cars also come with a few lightly armed enemies that fire upon the players, making it even more dangerous. The car must safely be brought to a stop then the VIP can be moved on foot.

Truck – A VIP being moved by large truck comes with a heavily armed group of protectors that will fire on the players. This makes it very difficult to neutralize the enemies without harming or killing the VIP. The vehicle must be stopped and the enemies forced out and eliminated, then the VIP can be moved on foot.

Armored Truck – A VIP in an armored truck is about as safe as they can be from harm. The players must stop the vehicle, secure the driver and force open the compartment then the VIP can be moved on foot and then evacuated in whatever way is handy at the time.

Jet – A VIP being transported on a small private plane is impossible to intercept. Players may get lucky enough to keep them from getting on the plane or catch them right after they land, but once they’re in the air, bringing the plane down kills everyone. However moving them by large passenger or cargo plane offers a few possibilities. Players might be able to board the plane quietly in disguise as normal passengers. If that’s not possible they might stow away in crates or under tarps. It becomes absolutely imperative that the plane stay in the air until it can be safely landed, otherwise a whole lot of people could die. Evacuating the VIP is best handled by landing the plane, however in a pinch they might escape by parachute.

Chopper – A VIP being transported by chopper is extremely difficult to recover as stopping the chopper without killing the VIP is nearly impossible. However if the chopper is planning on making a landing, then it is best to head off the chopper at its landing zone before the VIP can be moved to a building or different vehicle.

Train – A train can be boarded at a station by characters in disguise, by jumping on from another train, car, chopper. If the player’s can go undetected they may be able to quietly get control of the engine or separate the VIP car from the rest of the train (random car). If they are detected then they must race as enemies uncouple the rear cars, leaving the players behind.  The only way to stop the train is from the engine. The tracks may be broken by the enemy, an accident or events from a previous mission, but if the train hits broken tracks, everyone dies.

Jet Boat – VIP is being transported by a speed boat. Intercepting the target before hand from a car is difficult and picking them up after the boat lands may be even more difficult. Boarding such a small boat would be near impossible without another boat alongside or a chopper and lots of luck. Firing on or from the boat accurately enough to disable it or incapacitate the pilot is difficult and dangerous as there is a moderate chance of causing the boat to explode or sink. The enemy may have support from other boats, a chopper or even cars firing from on land.

Yacht – A large vessel out in the open water. Players need to swim, boat or drop onto the boat from a chopper. If the vessel begins moving after they are aboard, falling off may make it impossible to stay on mission. Players must search multiple levels and the chase may persist on a jet boat. The VIP must be recovered by another boat, chopper or taking complete control of the yacht. Beware of self-destruct, otherwise the ship can be damaged but not blown up or sunk by normal combat damage.

Pre-empt – Players may have a chance to intercept a hostage before they can be moved from a building to a vehicle. This would be a final resort of a building rescue mission.

Head off – Players may have a chance to intercept a hostage as they are being transported from a vehicle to a building. This would logically come if the players were unable to board a vehicle and therefore wait for it to stop. Like waiting for an airplane to land.

Enemies

Boss – The final boss, leader of the evil organization. The game is not over until they are captured or killed. The final fight with them depends on the player’s performance in the previous campaign.

Agents – 4-6 sub bosses with their own unique equipment, appearance and abilities. There’s one for each VIP and must be captured or killed to recover their VIP.

Minions – regular nonspecific enemies with standardized equipment and abilities.

Sniper – A minion that uses a sniper rifle, spawns on the periphery of the mission map or predefined high points

Gunner – A minion with a machinegun, spawns rarely on vehicles or in buildings

Launcher – A minion with a rocket, grenade, or missile launcher depending on the type of vehicle the players have.

Driver/Pilot – A minion that commands vehicles. Killing the driver/pilot brings the vehicle to a stop

Juggernaut – A rare armored minion that only appears in bunkers.

Spy – An uncommon minion that appears in buildings monitoring security systems. Neutralizing one of these can allow access to security systems without causing alerts or opening paths that could be accessed no other way.

Agents

Melee – A fast and dodgy enemy that likes to get in close with punches and stabs. Does best in close quarters.

Sniper – Equipped with a semi-automatic sniper rifle and high power ammo. Can kill or cripple a player in one shot and punch through most cover.

Gunner – Equipped with a heavy machinegun and fills an area with fire. Devastating against vehicles and players in the open.

Launcher – Equipped with various launchers to drop explosive damage on players and quickly eliminate vehicles. Does best out in the open during vehicle chases.

Spy – A relatively weak agent that can lock down a building tight as possible. In open combat they hide and control multiple drones that fire bullets and rockets from the air.

Juggernaut – The most heavily armored enemy in the game. Can’t be damaged by anything but well placed/aimed explosives. Equipped with a full-auto shotgun with different ammo types. Is devastating in confined spaces.

Missions

Cabin in the Woods + Country Chase

City High Rise + City chase

Yacht + River/Coast/Open water chase + Port and Jet Boat

Airport + Passenger Jet

Warehouse + Highway chase

Mansion

Island

Ghetto

Final Bunker

GAME CONCEPT: Legend of Zelda - A Path to Power "The Legend of Ganon"

This is a concept for a Zelda game where the player controls the character Ganondorf instead of Link. There is no set chronological position for this scenario. It is incomplete and sets up what i think is a believable basis or opening scenario for Ganondorf as the protagonist.

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Ganon is a Gerudo, one of the few males born to a century. He is a (potential) reincarnation of the demon Demise.The Gerudo are tribe are considered cursed by the bloodline of evil and Ganon’s spirit is infused with the Triforce of power (given to the most powerful people of mind and body in an era).

Princess Zelda, possessing the Triforcec of Wisdom experiences a premonition of Ganon’s rise to power and awakening to evil. In an attempt to prevent this from happening, she sends an army, lead by the Chosen Hero Link, head of the Royal Knights to capture the still very young Ganon, strip the triforce of power from him and shatter it, spreading its fragments across the land.

Link succeeds in his mission and delivers a decree, banishing the Gerudo to the desert for 100 years. Meanwhile the child Ganon is taken back to Hyrule castle by Link and raised by him to become a Royal Knight. He is raised by a hero in the hopes that he will grow into a hero of wisdom and courage rather than a villain governed by lust for ultimate power. A sheikah watcher named Impa is assigned to monitor him from the shadows, helping him if necessary and if he should turn, to assassinate him before he can obtain the Triforce of Power.

Ganon finally becomes a knight, and Link is a much older man, consort to Zelda. Before his knighting ceremony, where he would swear allegiance to Hyrule and the royal family, Link and Zelda remind him of the events that lead to him being at the castle, and the reasons for them. He is then presented with a choice; to continue with his knighting and continue with his duties, or to postpone/forget the ceremony and go out into the desert to find his people. If he chose to leave he would be able to decide for himself if the decisions that were made for him were just. He could then return as a friend or an enemy, starting a new war to claim his demonic birthright.

That night he is tormented by dreams of his capture, of monsters and witches and an invader clad in green.

He wanders the castle in the dark, his mind troubled. He overhears Link and Zelda talking about him, their plans and hopes for his future. He confronts Impa and asks her for her judgment as to his evil nature. All she says to him is that she sees evil everywhere, and in everyone, but that the ancient all consuming evil they fear is different and hasn’t been seen in an era, and that regardless of what he decides for himself, she will continue to guard against it, no matter what face it wears.

In the morning Ganon decides to go into the Gerudo desert, to see the face of his people for himself and what has become of them. He takes his new armor, but leaves the shield with the Hylian crest, and the sword Link had made for him behind. If he returns, he would claim them and his position as a knight.

He rides to the desert border, where a stone wall has been erected, barring entrance. He searches the area and takes a wind torn Hylian flag from the wall, wraps himself in it and leaps into the sand with a wooden post.

In the blowing sands he is ambused by monsters. At night he finds the light of a tent, where a merchant has set up shop next to an old well. The merchant offers him water and other items along with information about the desert and its inhabitants. He tells Ganon of the Garudo and their lives in the desert, previously as herders and miners, now more brigands and thieves. In the morning he leaves the tent and follows the merchants instructions. He discovers a colossal goddess carved in the stone at the top of a mountain overlooking a town built into the stone.

He is greeted by bandits popping from the sand. Upon defeating them he enters the village where the old women and children hide in their homes. He is confronted by the Gerudo queen Nabooru. He tells her his story and she summons her witches Koutake and Koume to test him. He cannot defeat their magic and is subdued. He is chained and imprisoned as a traitor to his tribe. He is then thrown into the great prison in the desert.

In the dark his emotions roil between confusion, anger, fear and betrayal. He crawls through sand and stone batting monsters and surviving traps to escape the dungeon. He picks his armor and weapons from the dead, hearing the voices of the ghosts and one other, an ominous and malevolent voice calling to him, awakening new strength and magical power.

He returns to the Gerudo village and again he is tested by the witches. This time his new power allows him to defeat them.

Nabooru then grants him an audience and tells him her story. She talks about their exile and struggle to survive. She also reveals the effect their demon cursed bloodline has had on them, their culture and their children. She also mentions a ancient desert race of people called the Kuso (Cactus people) who live much deeper in the desert, guarding secrets even older and darker than their own. He tells them that he has no interest in hearing anymore secrets and leaves the desert, promising to get much needed food and supplies into the desert. He stops by the merchants tent again to talk about establishing a supply line through the barricade. The discussion goes well until the merchant pushes him down the old well.

He awakes to find himself in an underground cavern, his immediate area is actually a fairy spring. There he encounters a great fairy, who identifies him as a vessel of great power and great potential. She explains to him about the neutral nature of the Triforce and tells him to seek the temple of Din to understand how his evil fate might be avoided.

He goes through miles of caverns and tunnels, swimming through chasms and crawling through the dark until he finds the ruins of an underground temple.  The temple was a water shrine built by the Kuso and upon exiting he finds himself in an oasis on the far side of the desert. Nearby he finds a pyramid sealed by powerful magic. He feels a dark power emanating from the pyramid, but dare not go near. He wanted nothing more to do with secrets or power or this ancient legacy of greed and destruction.

He goes to the river and finds Zora ferrymen who agree to take him downriver to lake Hylia. It is a long journey and he gets to see a new area of Hyrule, The river is dotted with boats of fishermen and river zora pools. Here, on the edge of the desert and miles from a supposed ocean is a wealth of food and water, so he wonders why the Gerudo continue to live so harshly.

He arrives at the lake and immediately heads for Hyrule Castle. The words of the Great Fairy echo in his head and he diverts to Death Mountain instead. The gorons great him and challenge the large man to a test of strength. With his success he is made friend of the Gorons and allowed passage to Din’s temple. He feels the overwhelming draw of power, of a shard of the triforce of power that had been sealed there. He is compelled forward but the shrine is sealed.

Impa appears, breaking him from his trance. She leads him away from the shrine and he tells her about what he found in the desert and his intention to reopen trade to the desert.

Impa brings him back to the castle where he speaks with Zelda about removing the blockade. He recounts the tale of his journey and the strange experiences. They find this troubling but agree to send a convoy of supplies out to the desert immediately. Depending on the success of that mission, they would consider opening the blockade.

Ganon finds a convoy of soldiers with wagons and crates loaded and ready for travel. He leads them with Link to the wall where they make camp as Ganon leaps back into the desert. He finds the merchant and after offering a useful gift as an apology for sending him down the well, agrees to help with the supplies. The merchant begins to pack his tent and head for the wall. Ganon continues on to the Gerudo village. He is again greeted by bandits which he defeats and goes on to see Nabooru. This time he is met by the witches and their new Iron Knuckle, which the set upon Ganon to test him yet again. After a hard battle he emerges victorious and sees the Queen, informing her of the waiting supplies. Nabooru sends a convoy out to receive the supplies and he asks why her people remain on this side of the desert.

Nabooru tells Ganon about the shifting sands and the powerful monsters that live there. There is a safe path but it ends in a great chasm none dare try to traverse, though there are remains of an ocient stone bridge. Ganon heads back to the wall to check on the supplies. Link has overseen their transport and all is going well. Ganon tells him he is going deep into the desert after delivering the supplies to investigate a path to the river.

While in transit the convoy is attacked by monsters en masse. Ganon successfully repels the beasts until a large worm creature appears. He grapples with the monster and drives it away but is wounded by it. He is taken with the supplies to the Gerudo village where he is healed. He later awakens in the care of the witches who fawn over him, calling him their soon-be-king. He doesn’t know what to make of them but is offended and leaves. He finds himself deep under the mountain, proving the Gerudo village and culture was much greater than it seemed. Naroobu showed him the desrt shrine under the colossal goddess and she tells him just what these events really mean for her and her people.

In the morning Ganon dresses for the desert and heads towards the Kuso Path. He imust slog through quicksand loaded with lurking monsters and must run to avoid the desert worm. Finally he finds the desert bridge, a large elaborate structure worn and broken from wind and time. He can’t cross the bridge as he is, but spanning it with some wood doesn’t look too difficult. Just a matter of getting the materials through the desert. He uses the rope he brought to scale down the cliff into the chasm. He enters another area of the aquifer he found earlier and explores further, looking for some way across. After another long slog through caves and creatures he finds an exposed wall that leads to the inside of the pyramid.

Inisde he finds a spear bound by chains and wards.  He feels it’s dark and intense energy as it bekons to him like a whisper in the breeze. He touches the weapon, which sends energy crackling through the room, burning the wards and smoldering the chains. He pulls hard on it and wrenches it free. While marveling at it he doesn’t notice a guardian golem coming to life from the wall. He battles the giant automaton in the confined space until he manages to escape it through a hole in the ceiling. He runs through corridors dodging traps and rubble as the guardian smashes through the building behind him until he reaches the sealed main door he found earlier. He desperately strikes it with his new weapon and shatters the magical lock just in time as the golem blasts him through the door and out into the sands.

He is awestruck at the changes to the area around him. Sand is swirling in a maelstrom around the pyramid and a pillar of light radiates from its apex. Apparently his claiming the spear or awakening of the guardian triggered some powerful magic. The guardian hoists itself from the ruins and lashes out at Ganon, now out in the open with blowing sand obscuring vision for both. Ganon avoids the shadow and glowing eyes as its large hands pulverize the stones Ganon tries to hide behind. He scurries through the sand until he gets behind the guardian and scales the pyramid. He uses the beacon at the top as a font and absorbes the magic, focusing it into a single large blast to smash the golem as it tries to climb the pyramid and knock him down. After several choice strikes the enemy is defeated and the beacon along with the winds slowly subside.

From his pearch he can see the river, the land beyond, the bridge ruins behind him and now, what looks like another pyramid deeper  in the desert.

How to proceed?

Good Ganon or evil ganon? Can a good ganon reassemble the Triforce of Power and not become evil?

If he can what is the great enemy he must face? And how does Link not swoop in and save the day? If we accept that the hero can fail as premise (in one time continuum) then it is feasible for it to happen again. But the Triforce of power would demand an immensely powerful foe, akin to Ganon himself, or his divine predecessor Demise.

Shadow Ganon?erade that marks Ganondorf as a traitor? An imposter created by twinrova to become the next Demon King? An embodiment of the evil will of Demise made manifest whenes it?

List for power / Desire for better conditions for his desert dwelling people / Will of Din / Wll of Demise

Does he encounter the monster races in the wild lands, learn something new about htem, and become their leader?

If the Gerudo are thieves then who do they rob? The Hylians and other tribes obviously but how do they do it if they are banished to the desert? Bypassing the blockade may be difficult but not impossible.

The thieves trail.

Would Ganondorf become a thief to aid his people when Zelda refuses to drop the blockade? If the desert people became hostile because of the blockade then it wouldn’t do to take it down and let a hostile force into their lands.

Could we explain or explore monster ganon’s pig/boar appearance and his trident?

The King of the Moblins and his army of hulking beast men assail Hyrule. Ganondorf takes the fight to the enemy but requires more power to defeat the giant and his powerful minions.

What about the power to turn men into monsters. This demonic power that persists through the ages as a way to reshape reality and manifest the heart of the target or of the wielder by reforming the body and/or mind.

If Ganondorf begins to collect the fragments of the triforce of power, then wouldn’t it be Link and Impa’s duty to stop him? How could he avoid this or how could he overcome the legendary Hero and a master assassin? If he became evil and had to fight Link and lost, then the game would be a bummer. If he defeated Link then he would rule Hyrule again and have to be sealed by the Sages again. If he gained the triforce of power then only the combined efforts of Zelda and Link with the Master Sword would be able to destroy him. Could he sacrifice himself to stop ultimate evil from taking over? Could he give his own life to cancel out his evil half/counterpart? If there was an evil to beset Hyrule that was even greater than Ganon, what would it be like?

Does Ganon explore a different land? Different parts of Hyrule heretofor not seen or previously left unexplored?

Hyrule + sacred Realm/Lorule + Lo Sacred Realm, Twilight Realm, Silent Realm, Shadow Realm

What would Ganon’s game look like and play like? God of War? Overlord?

The expectation is that the player experiences a fun narrative and gameplay elements that keep the Zelda feel, but make it clear that it is a different game, not just trading Link for Ganon. Good must always win in the end, Link and Zelda must always be good and Ganon must always be powerful and balance the evil side of the equation. Ganon may become good but cannot lead to the destruction of Demise’s will and he cannot become evil and rule the world. Player’s can handle a darker narrative but best not get too much darker than Twilight Princess or it may break the Zelda tone. Players can also handle dark or bummer endings, but it should not be one that they can see coming before the trailer finishes playing.