What if?

[rush_fan]

Hi all- its been ages since I have been on the forums, srry about that...
Anyway,  I was here to discuss a game plot idea I had.(for rmxp)

I liked the characters I made in 'Azure Frontier'plot, but the setting didn't fit and things just didn't work and it was unoriginal.  

This game runs off of a "What if?" scenario I have always thought about.

What if the Roman Empire survived?  What if they were still around during the 1800 century?  What if they were part of the discovery age?  
What if they began to use firearms?

Ok, the plot isn't all ironed out or finished, but I'm trying to determine how far I should go with it depending on public opinion.

The time is mid/late 1700s and The Roman Empire is still in existence, although not as big as in the glory days.  The Empire's borders have been greatly reduced.  The Empire now only contains modern Italy, Austria and Switzerland.  Rome has gained many enemies, and with all these enemies, their empire is threatende (again)
Here are enemy factions:
-Spain
-Germany
-France
-The Sons of Jupiter (aka the rebels or  SOJ)
-The Carthage Empire
-The African Tribe Confederation (aka the ATC)
Here are neutral/possibly allies:
-United Kingdom
-Egypt
-Greece
-Morocco

America has been discovered, but due to all the wars in Europe, colonozation has just started.  Rome wants a piece of the action, but Spain has nearly blockaded their exit into the Atlantic (strait of gibraltar).  Also the nothern borders are under attack yet again from Germany and France.  Carthage has recently been attempting to spy on sicily's defences.  The Sons ofJupiter are not an organised country or region-instead it is more of a cult/secret society.  They believe in the traditional roman gods and hate Rome for switching to Catholocism.  

The story follows  Caius Sciulli, the son of a peasent farmer.  When Caius is conscripted into the Legion, he is not happy.  As battles progress, he becomes battle hardened and ranks up slightly.
While in the Alps for Rome's defence against France, Caius takes a break and goes to a bar.
After drinking at the bar Caius heads out for the fort.  He is greeted by a dead body. Shocked, he continues through the interior.  Dead bodies litter the ground, but it doesn't seem like a French raid.  It seems to..clean.  There are no fires.  Then Caius sees him.  Gallio, one of his only good friends is lying on the ground staring into the sky.  His cross and chain lie next to him, broken and smashed.  A note is pinned to his body-  "In Jupiter's name"  Caius had heard rumors about the Sons of Jupiter- but he never assumed they would do something this big.  Some even said that they ranked as high as in the senate.  Then Caius  heres men coming through the entrance.  He rubs blood all over himself and uses Gallio's knife to slice a cut a slice in his leg.  He lies on the ground and calls for help.  He knows that no one would believe he was at the bar, so he pretended to be caught in the attack.  He also doesn't know who to trust and who were members, so he explains to the other men that the French  had came through and slaughtered the men.  To prove the existence of the Sons of Jupiter, Caius would have to gain respect.  He can get this respect by ranking up in the military, fighting in the collesium, and earning money.  
Please note that Caius will get more personal motives, but i don't want to give away all of the story.  
More details about what weapons are in existance and possible game features will be posted later.
So, what do you guys think? Do you like it? Please give feedback, especially constructive (plz remember that this is FICTION and not intended to be accurate)
If you have any name ideas, i would love them

[I Have a Sandwich]

Hm, maybe play into the whole idea that if things went on the way they did, we may not have gotten as many advancements as we did. Like things developed differently.

[aboutasoandthis]

This sounds original. I won't be playing RMXP games, but I would like you to continue on this idea. I love the concept of the story, as it could really happen.

There is one part that concerns me. The girl the man meets at the party. You said he wakes up in a dungeon with the girl in the next cell. How exactly did they get close enough for her to touch him? Isn't she in another cell like a prisoner? Or is she like a prison guard and is standing outside the cell?

I wish you could tell some more as to what the man's goal in the game is, other than getting out of the dungeon. The woman somehow knocking him out sort of killed the summary for me.

[rush_fan]

Ok, I think me putting the girl in the plot just got in they way.  I removed that part.  I have to go out today and my parents are calling me, so i will update the plot later, for now i just removed her- she WILL NOT be in the game.  I just think she made it to complex and I was trying to do to much.  Just focus on plot and then I will flesh out the characters later.

[DragonBlaze]

Sounds very interesting.

I'm curious, there isn't going to be magic in this game is there? What were you planning on doing to make up for that in the battles, just being able to use one attack will make the battles very dull.

[EXO Muffin]

Methinks he's gonna replace magic with things like grenades and fancy gun tricks.

[rush_fan]

Exo- you thinks right

I'm thinking of an ABS like zelda or of that nature with multiple guns, melee weapons and explosives.

As for the story- here is my continuation of Caius's motives (i did not just make it up- i just removed the girl)

While in the Alps for Rome's defence against France, Caius takes a break and goes to a bar.
After drinking at the bar Caius heads out for the fort.  He is greeted by a dead body. Shocked, he continues through the interior.  Dead bodies litter the ground, but it doesn't seem like a French raid.  It seems to..clean.  There are no fires.  Then Caius sees him.  Gallio, one of his only good friends is lying on the ground staring into the sky.  His cross and chain lie next to him, broken and smashed.  A note is pinned to his body-  "In Jupiter's name"  Caius had heard rumors about the Sons of Jupiter- but he never assumed they would do something this big.  Some even said that they ranked as high as in the senate.  Then Caius  heres men coming through the entrance.  He rubs blood all over himself and uses Gallio's knife to slice a cut a slice in his leg.  He lies on the ground and calls for help.  He knows that no one would believe he was at the bar, so he pretended to be caught in the attack.  He also doesn't know who to trust and who were members, so he explains to the other men that the French  had came through and slaughtered the men.  To prove the existence of the Sons of Jupiter, Caius would have to gain respect.  He can get this respect by ranking up in the military, fighting in the collesium, and earning money.  
Please note that Caius will get more personal motives, but i don't want to give away all of the story.
As for game features, I really can't discuss those here- as this is a mostly rm 2k and rm2k3 community I really don't expect much scripting or spriting support for rmxp.  If you can help please tell me.

To I Have a Sandwich: kind of what i was thinking, except kinda the opposite-  Rome was so advanced for its time, I'm playing on the idea of what would they have invented if they stayed in existence- and what kind of weapons would they come up with?


Hope you guys like my idea.  Thx for all help and/or critisism you provide.

** Historical note: in case you didn't know, Rome did switch official religions from their polytheistic beliefs to Catholosism.  The 'Sons of Jupiter'  are refering to Jupiter, the Roman god of gods.**

[EXO Muffin]

I have an idea! It could be a sleeve-conceilable mini-crossbow that fires polyrhombal blade pods! The pods' shells would then extrude into 8 blades on each half, and then implode, sending blades in several directions at once! Now, that would be painful.

[rush_fan]

bump

EDIT:  Oops sorry i was following the rmxp.org rules- Wasn't paying attention- wont happen agian.

[I Have a Sandwich]

Don't bump it just to bump it. You can always disguise bumps my adding little ideas and stuff you had, but don't just say 'bump', especially if its not even capitalized.