Generation zero story thread

spoiler
#1

I’m not sure if I’m the only one that is having a hard time understanding generation zeros story but il give it a try
In the years after world war 2 Sweden had remained mostly unscathed and used they’re export income from the war to develope the total defense initiative as a defense against the Soviet Union
This would later be known as FNIX
At some point in the 70s and early 80s the Cold War heats up once again when anti communist Ronald regain calls the Soviet Union an empire of evil
The Russians are paranoid
The sweedes develope cold fusion
Finally in 1989 presumably not long after the Berlin Wall falls for some unknown reason FNIX goes rouge and starts murdering the people it was built to protect
The sweedish armed forces are almost completely wiped out and evacuations occur all over the country

The game picks up here

And during one of the alpine unrest missions

Spoiler for anyone who hasn’t played alpine unrest yet

A morse code message informs you that na to and the soviets are preparing to launch troops into Sweden

#2

You did good.
Aesyle outlined some of it here: Let's talk alpine unrest
I’ve been meaning to put a summary together but my heart’s not in it.

#3

When completing one of the main missions in Alpine Unrest I believe I heard Anita state that “it is not the Russians”. I’m not sure, though, but I got the impression that the Russians are not involved in the conflict (and thus did not deliver the box for “Behind the Curtain”). Again, I might be wrong.

#4

I’m pretty sure she meant that the Russians didn’t send the robots to attack Sweden
They were built and kept top secret by the swedes and that’s why the public was so unprepared for them
I believe the soviets and NATO put aside they’re differences to take back Sweden from the machines
Now weather that was out of kindness or fear of the robots spreading into other nations is up to you

#5

I’ll just swoop in here and tag this topic so people won’t get accidental spoilers. Cheers.

#6

I might have made this point a while ago, but the game does need a better story. The main game feels more like a prologue than anything, and the DLC sets up a beginning to a greater story. The current narrative is straightforward, with a simple conflict and antagonist. I would like to see it broaden with some twists and turns in the future. The logical next step would be to introduce some military forces into the game, potentially British, Russian, or Canadian. They would make a very slow advance to the mainland and with your help, they could get to the shore where the narrative picks up again, and the larger resistance begins. It would be nice to have the overall war between the humans and machines be a massive tug-of-war, rather than have a one-sided dominating power.

Example: The machines make it out of Sweden and start invading mainland Europe, killing everything and everyone in their path, being unsuccessfully held back by a ragtag force of military units from multiple countries, and things start looking grim for our military friends. Then the militaries, with your help, discover a fatal weakness in the machines, and take advantage of that. Then the metaphorical tug-of-war would continue, with multiple twists and turns, eventually having one side triumph.

It is this hope and fear that makes battles no matter how big or how small, all the more memorable.

The game’s story has presented a decent setup so far, having our friends camped out in the wine cellar waiting for rescue. The transition into the next chapter of the story would be pretty simple, very similar to the Alpine Unrest one.

I assume the devs are taking this into consideration to expand the story, because it would make this game a lot better. :slight_smile:

#7

Well put, @Simulacrum_Protogen.

Not necessarily better, but bigger and faster! Honestly, the story progresses so slowly and with so much subtlety that I miss details and forget important information. I don’t keep a notebook with references and flowcharts to make sense of all the tiny bits of information, that I pick up on my way through Östertörn. Actually I had forgotten all about Holberg and his role in FNIX when I got to Himfjäll. I can’t remember a handwritten partial letter I picked up three months ago. And I don’t spend too much time going over old mission items regularly.

Or Danish! After all we are Swedens best neighbour and we care for our Scandinavian brothers and sisters. What would be more natural than letting the proud and powerful Danish military take care of the mess the Swedes have released on themselves? We are here to help :smile:

#8

And to refer to your own statement, @Simulacrum_Protogen: no new stuff (like experimental weapons, Rivals, etc.) should be added to the game without a backstory!

#9

Thanks Ian! :slight_smile:

#10

Now this is something I can get behind 100%

#11

I rather liked the way the story progresses. In books and TV they jump right over the time that a detective would spend travelling between locations they needed to investigate. 80% of a detective’s time is spent travelling and doing mundane tasks that support the investigation. This game simulates that in some degree, needing to piece the story together with small details that are widely dispersed.

Also, books and TV are made much more complex than real life. People want to be entertained, and that means they need to be exposed to something more than reality offers. The cases in books and TV can feed the consumer a very complex and twisted narrative, whereas in real life, the cases are rarely complex. They’re rather simple most of the time.

I like this story as it is. It’s simple yet compelling through it’s (unrealistic) sci-fi take on human desire to live and experience more than life can give but still fail to transcend the pettiness that we learn.