Hello everyone and welcome to this thread meant to discuss a possible future iteration in the Dino Crisis franchise. I've been wanting to make this thread for some time now but have been reluctant to do so, largely for two reasons. First, I've been reading and participating in threads concerning Dino Crisis and in my observations, they never really seem to gain much traction, which is a shame but that's likely due to the franchise's dormancy but hopefully this thread will spur some decent discussion. And lastly, to me, it increasingly seemed as if this thread's purpose, the more I thought about it, was to spread awareness of some of the ideas that I had concerning the franchise's future rather than to engage in a dialogue with fellow fans and hear the direction other folks would like to see the series advance. While I think it's cool for people to hear and discuss ideas that I've had, it's wack if there's no room for others to chime in with their own thoughts. So I've created this topic at the request of Jawmuncher to elaborate on some of the ideas I posted in another thread and to invite you all, fellow fans, to join in this conversation as well and say what'd you'd like to see from a potential new game in the series.
I think the subtitle of re would be fitting for a new iteration in the Dino Crisis series in the sense that players, game characters, and dinosaurs are once again experiencing this situation where their worlds collide and it speaks to the concept of fatalism that's explored in the game. At the same time, it pays homage to the game from which it was spawned from, Resident Evil. The lack of a number tells you that this is NOT in fact a sequel to the previous games but something entirely new. It also makes me think of re-imagining, re-boot, re-visit, etc. I'd like for the next game to feature a more grounded story, or at the very least, make some type of scientific sense. I know that's an odd request given that dinosaurs in the present day are the main draw of the franchise but a degree of plausibility can go a long way in immersing players in the game's world. This is why the crux of the story I envisioned is the Tachyon and Dr. Kirk's associated research which has resulted in this catastrophe. The Tachyon has replaced Third Energy as the instrument that brought about the temporal displacement events in the previous games.
Narrative
- DC; re isn't a continuation of any game in the franchise but in fact runs parallel to the mainline games and references ALL of them in the game's final segment
- Blend of action, horror, survival, stealth, and adventure that allows for different situational approaches and player agency
- Series favorites Regina and Dylan return as playable protagonists
- Regina is a former infiltration and reconnaissance specialist now enjoying civilian life when she receives a request by her former commander, Mike Wired, to be a part of a joint operation between her former unit S.O.R.T and T.R.A.T to infiltrate the catastrophe unfolding in Manhattan and find a key individual of importance, Dr. Edward Kirk
- Dylan is a career soldier and member of TRAT who eagerly undertakes the mission because his estranged daughter Paula resides in Manhattan with his divorced wife and hopes to find and evacuate them during the mission. He lost contact with them some weeks ago
- Dr. Kirk returns as a disgraced scientist, former renowned Physicist and ex-head of Project God Particle, who in an attempt to salvage his reputation and satisfy his ego, runs an unauthorized experiment that successfully substantiates his theory regarding Tachyons and their existence. However, the experiment behaves outside of expected parameters and the tachyon mass swells uncontrollably, moving beyond its containment enclosure and eventually encapsulates all of Manhattan. *Think "The Shimmer" from Annihilation*
- Dr. Kirk is the world's foremost authority on Tachyons, theoretical subatomic particles believed to travel faster than the speed of light but are largely considered nonexistent by most of the scientific community. He is employed by A.R.I.E.S, the Advanced Research Institute of Exploratory Science, a subsidiary of DARPA. They're interested in Kirk's research regarding Tachyons because of the potential implications of his work. They believe that Tachyons can lead to their eventual subjugation of time
- Takes place in a time displaced Manhattan, that's declared a Military Exclusion Zone following military occupation of Manhattan
- The military is unable to regain control of the situation and eventually contact is lost with the expeditionary force sent within to investigate. Aside from routine drops of medicine, food, clothing, and weapons, Manhattan has been largely abandoned with access in and out of it destroyed to prevent dinosaurs from escaping their "captivity"
- Time within the zone is contracted, and so those who were unable to evacuate have been fighting with dinosaurs for years while only months have passed outside the zone
- The sphere begins to expand again, with enveloped areas being displaced and dinosaurs and other prehistoric life manifesting within them
- A joint operation between SORT and TRAT is green lit. It would see operators HALO jump into Ground Zero, to find Dr. Kirk and reverse the encroachment of the tachyon sphere. Most members of the teams are killed in the skies by Pterosaurs and upon making landfall by Deinonychus. Because of the attack during the descent, Regina and Dylan start the game in different locations
- The situation within the MEZ is deemed unsalvageable. Survivors and the military have turned on one another and are actively killing each other for supplies. Dinosaurs roam freely and have killed most of the research team with knowledge pertaining to Dr. Kirk's experiment. Dr. Kirk himself is thought to be dead. Civilians just hoping to remain alive have taken shelter in Manhattan's expansive subway system
- Eventually Regina/Dylan unknowingly encounter a grayed Dr. Kirk, one radically different than in the briefing both in terms of appearance and demeanor. The contracted time served to provide Dr. Kirk with much needed personal growth and endowed him with a sense of guilt, shame, and a desire for penance
- Dr. Kirk tells them that he wants to undo what he's done but his lab has become the den of an undocumented species of dinosaur that hunts the largest of prehistoric predators as its prey
- R/D/K successfully kill the beast and gain access to Kirk's lab. He unfortunately discovers that the expansion of the tachyon sphere can't be stopped and soon the entire world will be enveloped by it. He believes that there might be a way to prevent this and the solution being to use the Tachyon Trap to create a 2nd sphere supplied with only enough tachyons to enable travel back to the day he set his original experiment in motion and kill a past version of himself
- Regina takes the trip and after entering the sphere is carried along the time-stream where she sees the actions of herself in an alternate time (DC1 & DC2) as well as Dylan seemingly dying with an unrecognized girl (Paula). She also sees another unknown person outfitted with futuristic gear (Patrick) fighting against the Cebalrai in the Ozymandias. At the heart of all these events is Dr. Kirk and his experiment with Third Energy. Disoriented, Regina finally arrives in the lab months prior to the present day as the Kirk of the past begins to start up the equipment in the lab for his fateful experiment
- Kirk sees Regina emerge from the sphere, and looks on in disbelief. Regina approaches him and pulls out her firearm and tells Kirk she's sorry before shooting him in the head. Before she pulls the trigger, Kirk asks if he was right, to which Regina nods. Validated, Kirk makes peace with his situation, having achieved his life's goal and doesn't resist
- After destroying the lab, its equipment, and all records of Tachyon related research, Regina is pulled back into the present (double occupancy problem). She returns to an unchanged world still beset with dinosaurs. Conferring with Kirk and Dylan, Kirk believes that although Regina changed the past, it was not their future she changed but the future of the past she traveled to (much like what Trunks experienced during his time traveling in DBZ). Simply, by killing past Kirk, she averted the catastrophe that spawned in her reality, birthing a timeline that is sparred of the dinosaur's return. Regina also tells them of the parallel realities that she glimpsed in the time-stream with Kirk at their hearts. The game ends with Kirk mulling over the idea that the universe is bound by the principle of causal determinism and regardless of what they do, humans are predetermined to meet with dinosaurs whether intentionally or unintentionally
- The game ends with humanity coming to terms with the reality they will have to coexist with dinosaurs and that they may no longer be the dominant apex lifeform
- Because Regina and Dylan are battling dinosaurs, I thought it'd be sensible to have them use exoskeletons to increase their chances of survival. These aren't Ironman exoskeletons but rather resemble Lockheed Martin's Onyx designs but slightly more futuristic with built-in sensors for detecting vibrations, heat sources, and movement. It allows them to run, jump, lift, and ultimately perform at levels nearly twice the best in class athletes for extended periods of time. The exoskeleton also has a third manipulator arm that can carry larger firearms and fire autonomously (player choice) if desired
- Is a sandbox, not an open world per se
- When the game begins, players halo jump into Manhattan and during their descent, have control over where they will land
- Gunplay with tremendous oomph! Very visceral and graphic. Bullets leave wounds on dinosaurs and people and impact their behaviors in sensible ways
- Interiors can be entered and each looks lived in and tells its own story. They can be used to escape pursuing dinosaurs and can be barricaded. Dinosaurs will attempt to gain entry, finding other pathways inside
- Wounds are treated in realtime, no pausing and going into a menu to magically heal yourself. Wounds must be dressed in-game and will leave players vulnerable to potential attack
- Undressed wounds will limit the amount of health that can be regenerated and will limit mobility and/or weapon accuracy depending on what particular area of the player's person is seriously injured
- Predatory dinosaurs will also track players who have left their wounds untreated ("bleeding"). When in this bleeding state, visible bloody footprints will be left in the game's world. This can actually be used to lay traps for overzealous stalkers
- Not every situation warrants a firefight. Stealth can be used to sneak past dinosaurs and other people.
- Much of the world has been reclaimed by prehistoric nature so dense brush that masks your presence can be used, as can abandoned vehicles. The environment is alien; prehistoric fauna covers most of Manhattan with the borough being vaguely recognizable
- Soft cover system. Players can use this to blind fire from safety and can use this as a means of safely surveying their surroundings and moving stealthily
- You can sometimes create an escape by leading a pursuing predator into a pack of a competitor species or other potential prey and use the opportunity to flee
- Because of the narrative, contracted time in open world games being implemented here makes sense
- No point system. Weapons are sold by survivors as a form of currency, a reward for a missions, or retrieved from supply drops. What remains of the functioning military will supply players with the best equipment. The primary means of acquiring goods is to barter using items you've retrieved. Items such as ammunition, medical supplies, food, clothing, weaponry, electronics, batteries, trophies, etc. can be traded with other survivors for items or intel
- Dinosaurs respond to stimuli such as sight, touch, sound, and smell (undressed wounds). Players can use this to their advantage by intentionally tricking predators
- Environments realistically respond to player change. For example, if a player has a flame thrower, they can use it to clear tall grass and potentially flush out predatory ambushes. Tall grass can also house and hide players
- Emergent events will happen. You'll see people fighting one another for supplies, dinosaurs killing people, people killing dinosaurs, and dinosaurs killing other dinosaurs. You'll also see non-aggressive dinosaurs eating vegetation and congregating
- Dinosaurs will communicate with one another, and adapt to the player's situational actions
- Because of the contracted time in the game's narrative, the speed at which days transition in traditional open world games makes sense in this context. This gives rise to unpredictable and violent weather conditions that are subject to change at a moment's notice
- Players can carry four weapons of their choice in addition to a survival knife and grenades that have their own dedicated inventory allotments
- Inventory space is used for retrieved goods such as first aid, military rations, food, ammunition, clothing, etc.
- The player's HUD has a motion sensing feature, much like the sensor in Alien, that will approximate the location of objects in your vicinity. It does not discern what that object may actually be however
- The subway system, when power is restored to its different stops, creates a fast travel system that offers a swift and safe way of traversing the island
- Actions available to the player are walk, trot, sprint, crouch, prone, slide, jump, front crawl, back crawl, hip fire
- Tenebrous (undocumented dinosaur species that feeds on the likes of T.Rex, Spinosaurus, etc.)
- Tyrannosaurus Rex
- Spinosaurus
- Giganotosaurus
- Carcharodontosaurus
- Carnotaurus
- Allosaurus
- Ankylosaurus
- Stegosaurus
- Velociraptor
- Triceratops
- Quetzalcoatlus
- Pterodactyl
- Mosasaurus
- Megalodon
- Liopleurodon
- Bruhathkayosaurus
- Aregentinosaurus
- Parasaurolophus
- Iguanodon
- Titanoboa
- Deinonychus
- Sarcosuchus
- Aquilarhinus
- Utahraptor
- Edmontosaurus
- Acheroraptor
- Pachycephalosaurus
- Baryoynx
- Gallimimus
- Albertosaurus
- Abelisaurus
- Troodon
Since science can't conclusively say that all dinosaurs had feathers (from what I've read) there will be variations of dinosaurs that will have an abundance of feathers and resemble large avians, some will feature a few protofeathers, and some dinosaurs will have no feathers and resemble the "classic" reptilian dinosaurs. Dinosaurs will also come in abundance of colors and patterns that are based on their surroundings and feature unique markings like scars. These distinctive adaptations will help the dinosaurs blend in with their backgrounds, aiding in survival and hunts.
Weapons
- Pistol
- Shotgun
- Submachine Gun
- Rifle
- Sniper Rifle
- Anti-Material Rifle
- Rocket Launcher
- Grenade Launcher
- Flame Thrower
- Net Gun
- Tripwire Layer
- Sticky Mine Thrower
- Compound Bow
- Chain Gun
- Thermite Rifle
- Gauss Rifle
- Photon Cannon
- Homing Micro Missile Launcher
- Grenade (Flash, Smoke, Incendiary)
Well that's my idea for a new Dino Crisis. Hopefully you've enjoyed this extensive read and have ideas that you want to share about what the next Dino Crisis could be.
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