Is it even possible to top what heavycat posted? I can picture the main character being a skinny 12-13 year old boy with pale white skin which can give the player an extra sense of vulnerability. The dog is a real nice touch. If the environment is super misty/foggy, the dog can whimper (not bark because that'll just attract more enemies) and hide behind you and you know something is coming but you can't see what yet. Should you run? or stay to figure out who/what it is? The people playing can assume the old man won't stay around for long. He'll be good for teaching the boy the basic controls of the game in the beginning and then gets abducted or fights off an enemy in a cut scene so the boy can run away and excape. Since the boy is skinny, weak and inexperienced, a proper axe swing can take a few seconds so there's that suspense delay and you pray you've swung just in time before that monster gets ya.

I'm not a writer.. but I'm going to give it a try for fun

The main character will be a 35-40 year old Vitenam veteran with both his legs gone and he gets around in a wheelchair and crawls too in the game. His wife is a nurse and she insists on going out to get food and worries about a neighbor who often visits. Ever since the event at the bell tower, the phones have been dead and everyone who drives off to the city never comes back. The vet, due to some trauma from Nam, insist that they stay in the house and wait for help to come. The game starts when the vet wakes up..

Vet
*groan* "How long have I been out? (maybe he's on meds too)"
"Mary?.."

Vet gets himself out of bed and on his wheelchair.

Vet
"MARY!? Oh God no..."

He's really worried now and wheels himself to the living room.

"Blake?"

No response.

"Well at least she took the dang dog (vet will probably curse alot)"

Vet looks out the window. It's dark as usual and the truck is gone. He strolls to the desk and pulls out the drawer. The gun is still there.

"Dang woman and her anti violence BS. If only.."

He takes the gun, puts the flat side of it against his forehead and shakes his head in disbelief. He's kinda hunched over and almost crying. Sudden stratching noise on the front door. It's just the dog and he's been hurt and scratched up (doggie doors were already boarded up just-in-case).

Backstory for the bell tower: There stood an abandoned church with a five story bell and clock tower. It was built by an old guy who recently passed away. The son of that guy was a big time architecture for the city. In memory of his father, he decides to rebuild the tower, but much bigger and taller so it can be seen from the city.

A bigger structure means a deeper foundation and little did they know, there was an ancient burial ground deep under the old building. They decided to remove all the remains they found and continue with the construction. Things started to happen, small things at first like getting sick or sudden rashes to some of the workers. Eventually it turned into minor injuries then missing employees. Workers were starting to believe it's haunted and most quit, but the son was determined to complete the building and just hired more people.

Incoming super far-fetched event..

Tower/church is finally complete. The grand opening went well and nothing extraordinary happened for the rest of the day. It's midnight and the bells were supposed to gently ring, but instead villagers were awaken by a scream of terror from the tower. Echoes of the shrill can still be heard from the vibrating bells. The day before that was also the last day the sun rose.

Neat feature for the game: Realistic wind that blows around window curtains, newspaper, squeaky doors, empty aluminum cans across empty asphalt road. "What was that? Maybe it was just the wind.." Add a Christian element to the game? Maybe it was God's plan all along to have the vet lose his legs which enables him to crawl through tight spaces, hide in small spots, climb well without the extra weight of legs.

I'm no professional writer either, but this is what I got done in the remainder of my lunch break. ;)


June 25th:
I went further out this time, the local area's been stripped. Every can, every bottle, damn near everything that has fur or walks on four legs. Sustainability's the first thing that goes when survival is one day at a time. Especially when going out is so dangerous.

I went past the Collins place. I'd rather wander in the forest than try to unboard that place. It's easier to face inhuman evil than to find out what good townsfolk did to each other. I understand wanting to hide. But when the food ran out, they made a choice. I choice that I can't... I just... anyway...

I looked in the old meatworks. I don't know what kind of stupid thoughts I had in my head. Of course there'd be no meat left there. And it's just the kind of place they like. The dark, the noise of the chains, it drew 'em. You figure it out pretty quick. They mock you. The echo of a footstep a little out of time with yours. The chains that don't stop swinging when they should. I don't know whether I was fast enough or if they're saving me for later. They tripped me, but I landed just outside.

I ran for ages. I'm normally smarter than that. Ended up lost in the forest. That's when you know you're sunk. We tried to get out a few times. It always ends the same. You see the glimpse of the road through the trees... you feel that tiny fragile ray of hope... and then you break through the trees and find yourself at the Tower. God I hate that thing.

Pete Jenkins shot that corroded old bell a bunch of times with his rifle one time. The clapper fell out. We thought maybe we'd won something. That midnight it still rang. Somehow that made it more unholy. A bell that rings with no clapper, gives you the shivers.

I have to stop wandering off topic. I swear this place clouds your thinking. I used to ask my dad if he remembered how things got this way. He started to answer, then got this confused look like he'd misplaced his coat or something. I know how he feels... well, as much as one can. People have asked me too, apparently. I don't remember them asking me. It's comforting to pretend that all the evil comes from the Tower, but that shows it's all around us. Every minute of every day. Not just at midnight.

So yeah, I was lost in the forest. It was around 11, I was getting pretty panicked. The forest was full of noises, and somehow I knew none of them were squirrels. I finally found a log cabin. I was of two minds, because I've seen them use random stuff like that as traps. And god knows survivors can be pretty jumpy. But after a quick recon it turned out to be empty. It didn't have the normal safeguards I like, but it was a damn sight better than being in the forest when the bell rang. So I did the best I could. I threw the weapons outside, I locked the door, and I tied the handle to a nearby chair. It was too late to think any more.

DONNNNNGGG!!! You can't explain the bell to anyone who hasn't experienced it. It's louder than any earthly thing should be. It vibrates right through you. It shakes you so violently that you can't see straight. If that was the worst thing I'd be a happy man. See things ain't quite the same when each bell toll is over. Take me for example. I was three steps closer to the door, and with no memory why. It happens like that. And of course there were the steps outside. Some sounded like people walking, children running... some had claws. Outside, on the roof, sometimes on the walls themselves.

DONNNNNGGG!!! I was three steps closer to the door. This time the damned furniture had all moved around, like someone had been redecorating. I ran back away from the door. At our place we tie each other down. Use real fancy knots that take 5 minutes to undo. The best I could do was try to keep my distance from the door, and be thankful there was nothing sharp in the room. I've seen what happens a few times and it's not pretty.

DONNNNGGG!!! The room was somehow darker than before, and my arm hurt like hell. I'd forgotten about my damned pocketknife. The best I could do was throw it behind the oven and hope I didn't bleed too much before it ended.

Central to the game's design and story is the "Tower", a huge tower complex that emits one of the scariest ambience's noises ever, reminiscence of Silent Hill.

Don't get hung up on the sound being from a bell. Admittedly information is somewhat scant but the OP did say you could pm him for more info. Must admit in trying to imagine the tower complex I keep harking back to Exxilon city (Doctor Who).

Ah, interesting, I thought it said a bell, but I must've got that from tower+noise=bell, and others' replies.

Yeah hence my comment -- Was starting to see a theme develop and from a writing perspective I didn't want people to get off track from bringing something completely new and surprising to the table.

Well, lets give it a try! This is all off the dome, by the way...

----

Dear love,

I have arrived at the small village that I am to stay for the week while inspecting the old industrial plant. The scenery is gorgeous as expected, with full, thick, lush, forests and a number of other humble villages along the road as if modern civilization had not let it's grimy paws claw at the rustic nature of the area.
However, there is something eerie about this place. I haven't seen or heard a single animal since I got here and the villagers keep insisting that I give up my hopes of inspecting the deserted buildings through the woods. They speak of evils that cannot be explained and legends of something terrible inhabiting a large brick tower, beyond the plant, that emits demonic tones and has claimed many poor souls.
But do not worry my love, the local folklore is nothing but lies made of simple words to scare the residents from visiting the empty warehouses. I shall return to you once I am done here.



With love,
Yours truly...

(for extra creepiness; imagine he write's her about every other day and she ends up arriving to the village to check on him, which is when she shows him the letters that end up just being frantic scribbles on pieces of paper and no actual words)

----

It's a little shallow, but it's a start. Off the dome and with very little research. I'm about to go read some H. P. Lovecraft (seems like the aesthetic you were going for and kind of what I tried to resemble) and may possibly come back to rewrite this.

I'm no writer either but here's just a try till i finish work.


A black castle on the left of the screen and a village right below the castle on the right of the screen. A scream and a gunshot. The camera closes in from the sky to a street where two figures are running. The camera closes more and more and stops when it has reached the level of a dead body (has zoomed enough to reach the ground in front of the body).The two men arrive. The camera takes them from below. They are panting.

The camera switces to the left of their heads.

- "I WILL FIND YOU! AND YOU WILL PAY! I WILL MAKE YOU PAY! I will never leave this village until you are found! DO YOU HEAR ME?"

- " So you still think this is a murderer and not a vampire or something."

- "Stop saying BULLSHIT and help me take her to the morgue."

The camera takes the two men from above as they grab the body and pick it up.


This is the intro as I imagined it in my head.



The main protagonist is a detective, who is trying to find his girlfriend who has disappeared. He doesn't believe in god. He doesn't believe in people. He believes mankind is doomed. He just wants to live with his girlfriend.

The antagonists are some rich guys who want to test how much people can take before they start becoming agressive, so they know how much they can push them until they get what they want. They have hired 10 assassins and have selected particular famous victims whose death will make people fear. One of the rich guys is a woman, and every time a murder is about to take place she screams from inside th castle so that people will think vampires are screaming from inside the castle or something otherworldly.

The plan is to make the villagers leave the village but when people start leaving the village the assassins kill whole families in the woods. *The village is surrounded by woods*. So the people can't actually leave and they start becoming desperate. The rich guys want to see what strategies people will come up with to deal with inevitable death and use their results in politics so they can make people do what they want.


Ok, these are the main facts. If you like it just pm me. Ciao!

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif]

A black castle on the left of the screen and a village right below the castle on the right of the screen. A scream and a gunshot. The camera closes in from the sky to a street where two figures are running. The camera closes more and more and stops when it has reached the level of a dead body (has zoomed enough to reach the ground in front of the body).The two men arrive. The camera takes them from below. They are panting.

[/font]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif]

The camera switces to the left of their heads.

[/font]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif]

- "I WILL FIND YOU! AND YOU WILL PAY! I WILL MAKE YOU PAY! I will never leave this village until you are found! DO YOU HEAR ME?"

[/font]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif]

- " So you still think this is a murderer and not a vampire or something."

[/font]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif]

- "Stop saying BULLSHIT and help me take her to the morgue."

[/font]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif]

The camera takes the two men from above as they grab the body and pick it up.

[/font]


[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif]

This is the intro as I imagined it in my head.

[/font]



[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif]

The main protagonist is a detective, who is trying to find his girlfriend who has disappeared. He doesn't believe in god. He doesn't believe in people. He believes mankind is doomed. He just wants to live with his girlfriend.

[/font]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif]

The antagonists are some rich guys who want to test how much people can take before they start becoming agressive, so they know how much they can push them until they get what they want. They have hired 10 assassins and have selected particular famous victims whose death will make people fear. One of the rich guys is a woman, and every time a murder is about to take place she screams from inside th castle so that people will think vampires are screaming from inside the castle or something otherworldly.

[/font]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif]

The plan is to make the villagers leave the village but when people start leaving the village the assassins kill whole families in the woods. *The village is surrounded by woods*. So the people can't actually leave and they start becoming desperate. The rich guys want to see what strategies people will come up with to deal with inevitable death and use their results in politics so they can make people do what they want.

[/font]


[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif]

Ok, these are the main facts. If you like it just pm me. Ciao!

[/font]

Hey guys,

Just wanted to let you know that we are still looking for a story... so keep the ideas coming! I will comment on some of the ideas presented here shortly + I will upload an ingame Alpha image/photo's to give you guys some inspiration. Cheers,

Dojo

ps. be free to let your imagination loose regarding the tower/complex (so it does not have to be a church/bell related)

Some images would be appreciated. Also a question: Are the villages populated i.e. are their friendly interactions with NPC's?

Will probably sit down and do a proper post when I can see the pictures but off the top of my head have been thinking as to the nature of the tower complex and the world surrounding it. Two of the many rough ideas that I have come up with so far are:

• The entire game world is actually the internal landscape of someone's unconscious mind (player, patient or enemy). The puzzles, mazes, enemies etc represent different aspects of the mind and provides insights. The tower complex is the key to escaping the unconscious world but is even more tricksome to get through than the outside. Unconscious by the way with respect to the subconscious, not simply knocked out.
  

• The tower complex is actually a very old umbrella defence system that was activated a long time ago locking the game world away from everyone and everything else. This could be applied to a number of different scenarios. Everything from the shields failing thus hostile intruders entering, to internal decay as a result of radiations formed within the shield etc.
  

I must admit though I would like a little more information to work with