Idea Info Name: Protean Index: Primary Category: Action Submitted: 6/10/2003 4:20:33 AM Written By: arkainjalex Game Architecture and Design: A New Edition Book Highly Recommended !

PROTEAN

STORY:

In ancient times a war was waged between the Proteans, a race of powerful shapeshifters, and the Demia, dark beings that desired the life energy of every living thing. In the middle were the Andasi, a race of humanoid beings that inhabited the lands and were caught up in the war. In the end, the Proteans and Demia all but decimated each other and much of the Andasi civilization. The remains of the Demia were forced back into their own world that they had come from long ago, and the few remaining Proteans were left among the Andasi. Witnessing the destruction the Proteans had caused, the many Andasi attacked the few Proteans and were able to destroy just about all of them, ensuring that was the end of the shapeshifters.

As time went on, technology advanced and empires rose and fell. The Andasi still retained their ancient practices and belief in the arcane, but science and machinery had changed life greatly. Villages became cities and from swords man made guns. One day, soldiers on a routine patrol noticed something that resembled the form of a man lying in the sand, half buried. They dug him up and brought him to a medical center in the nearby city. There doctors learned that he was not a man, but rather a Protean, the first one to be seen in hundreds of years. The Protean awoke to a new world, one which he did not recognize, and he was to be taken into military custody to be studied. They underestimated his powers though and he broke free and escaped the medical center. His escape led him to an underground group of arcane devotees known as the Disciples. Their leader, Ardantus, took the Protean in after recognizing his great powers. The Protean told Ardantus of how he had forgotten much of what happened and his powers were weakened due to his dormant state. Ardantus agreed to aid the Protean in recovering all he had lost if he would help the Disciples. He agreed and took the name Protus. He had joined the Disciples, now it was his job to aid them in their destruction of the abominations created by the military. Such creatures had defiled the order of nature and magic, and were used as unstoppable weapons of the military. Ardantus also told Protus of how the military had experimented with dimensional warp technology and opened a rift to a far off world. Suddenly a fragment of memory returned to Protus, and he remembered the Demia…

GAMEPLAY:

This game would be a third person action/adventure game. In it you play as Protus, a shapeshifter. In his basic form he resembles an Andasi (human), but he is much stronger and tougher than any normal person. But when transformed, he gains the full form and abilities of creatures whose genetic signature he absorbs. When Protus defeats any enemy he may absorb their signature and then assume their form freely, keeping a number of forms absorbed in his protean memory. Four forms may be set to quick change that would be activated by pressing directional buttons (moving is done with the analog). If this game were for PC obviously more forms could be quick changed. So in effect, you could be fighting enemies in melee combat and half way through a combo change form (perhaps many times) and continue to wail on them (action will slow down during the change). There would be two buttons to attack, one for jumping, one for blocking attacks, and others to lock on, morph form, or activate special powers of each form. Holding the morph button would open up the menu of the 10 or more forms in protean memory. Protus may equip weapons such as melee weapons or modern guns when in humanoid form, but cannot use them when transformed. It also turns out that his basic form is not his true Protean form, as all Proteans look quite different from humans.

Transformations will include the following, but there will be at least twice as many.

FERALISK: a ferocious werewolf-like beast, able to enter rage and tear enemies apart with razor claws and fangs.

BLADELING: female mutation with organic bone blades protruding from all parts of body and retractable arm blades.

META-VAMPIRE: vampiric creature with greatly enhanced speed and strength, able to jump long distances, regenerate, and drain blood.

LEVIATHAN: aquatic reptilian beast, able to swim quickly and fight with claws, has very hard scales and acidic breath.

GOLEM: large and powerful mutant with a rock-hard carapace, extremely durable and resistant to attacks.

SANDMAN: creature composed of sand-like substance, limbs transform into slashing blades and is very resistant to damage as its body reforms.

FLUXAR: being composed of pure energy, able to fly at high speeds and project blasts of destructive energy

NIGHTSHADE:  dark skinned humanoid, able to blend with shadows, cling to surfaces, and move at amazing speeds, also highly agile.

DRAKITE: winged reptilian mutant able to project searing blasts of plasma and plasma forcefield., tough scales and claws.

CEREBRATE: mentally advanced mutant, brain is able to generate intense telekinetic powers and manipulate physical forces.

FALLEN ANGEL: superior genetic construct with vast physical capabilities and bio-mechanical wings.

ALIENIST: liqui-morphic mutation, able to form shields and blades out of liquid body, and reshape to avoid attacks.

AXIOMATICON: perfect mutation, possessing metallic skin and reactive metabolic processes that counter any stimulus (is automatically stronger, faster, tougher, etc. than any creature or force directed at it).

DEMIA: dark creature from an alternate world, vaguely skeletal in appearance, must feed off of living creatures’ energy to survive when outside their own world.

As you can see, Protus has a lot on his hands when combating these enemies, but just wait until he is able to assume their forms. One thing to mention is that Proteans do not exactly copy the forms of enemies, there are a number of differences in appearance (making each Protean somewhat unique). Each of the transformations would have interesting graphical effects associated with them. For example: when a Sandman is hit, sand will splash off and it will reform completely. Alienists will move and flow like liquid as well as warp shape to dodge. Each of the forms is a genetic creation, but the basis behind most is some sort of mystical creature that is long extinct from the world.

Eventually Protus comes to defeat the military with his powerful forms and the help of the Disciples, the Demia finally invade through hundreds of portals and besiege the Andasi cities.  The only hope is to turn the remaining mutants against the Demia, in a desperate final move, Ardantus takes the genetic information of Protus and intends to create an army of Protean clones…