Story Outline Page:
The main story of our game takes place over the course of six different islands/levels. Almost all of these levels introduce a new character that joins the protagonists crew, and who have some sort of relevance to the story or gameplay, whether large or small.

Below I will run through the story events that occur during each chapter (dividing each chapter by the levels of the game).

level/Chapter 1:

The story starts on the first island of the game, being a somewhat small beach island with a market/trading village, with the protagonist, Ace and his mother, Amelia attempting to flee from the antagonists mechanical minions that are attacking and causing havoc on the island.

While trying to escape to safety, the Ace and his mother encounter a group of minions, which take shape as mechanical crabs, and are required to fight against these enemies to protect themselves. Ace successfully fights off these enemies, as his mechanical prosthetic arm allows him to attack with more strength than the average person.
Although the same cannot be said for the mother who during this time is hit by an enemy attack and receives a fatal wound which soon leads to her death. Ace finishes fending off the group of mechanical crabs and then returns to his mothers side.

Before her death she gives her son (the protagonist) a note and a map fragment, telling Ace with her last words that she believes that the protagonists missing father, Hugh, is still alive and somewhere in the world, and that she wanted to find him using both of the given items. But knowing her injuries are on the fatal side, tells her son to take the two items and asks to journey off the island and find his father, so she’ll be able to rest easy knowing her family are together and safe.
Upon reading the note the protagonist learns about the adventure his father had left on a few years prior to his disappearance, and the aim (location) of his journey. It is at this moment that his mothers wishes become his objective.
After grieving with his mother for a few more moments, she sadly passes on.

After a brief timeskip, the protagonist is standing at the mothers grave (as the mother was buried during the timeskip – the time the game faded out/in). The grieving protagonist is approached by a member of the village who is a family friend, named Leonard, and shares in his grief. Leonard asks Ace what his plans are, now that the attack on the village has ended. The protagonist explains the events that occurred in his mothers last moments and about the map that was given to him, but his problem of not having a way off of the island. Upon learning of the wishes of Ace’s mother, the friend volunteers himself to helping the protagonist with his journey by allowing him passage across the sea on his ship, and being the one to navigate the ship for the protagonist along the way.

 

Soon after this, Ace meets Leonard at his ship, and leaves the island for location shown on Ace’s first map fragment. (when the player decided to leave).

Level/Chapter 2:
Upon following the first map fragment that the protagonist obtained from his mother, Ace and Leonard arrive at the 2nd island listed on the map, being what seems to be an uninhabited desert jungle.

Upon arriving at the island, Leonard states that he’ll look after the ship during Aces adventure to find the next map fragment that is located somewhere on the island.

Ace steps onto the desert sand, and not so long after hears the sound of a plea for help, and so rushes towards the sound. Ace then arrives at a scene of mechanical crabs chasing after what seems to be a small octopus. But Ace still decides to intervene and help the distressed looking octopus.
Upon being saved, the Octopus introduces herself to the protagonist as Octavia, and shows her gratitude and admiration to Ace by offering to help him in any way she can. Ace happily accepts this offer by asking Octavia for help locating the hidden map on the island, which the position of which is hinted by Octavia, as she has a reasonable understanding of the island.
Upon agreeing to travel the island together, Ace gives Octavia the nickname Opi, as he can say it much easier, and it shows their initial bond that’s been established.

After adventuring around the island, both Ace and Opi arrive at some overgrown ruins that lie in the center of the islands jungle. Upon entering these ruins, Ace realises that tat this is where the next section of his map is located, but a puzzle will need to be solved to earn it (this being more gameplay focused than story).

Once the map fragment has been obtained, and the next island and its location has been revealed, both Ace and Opi return to Leonard. Worrying that the protagonist will leave, meaning she’ll be all alone again, Opi asks if she can continue following Ace to help with his adventure, which is replied with warm welcomes from both Ace and Leonard.

Soon after the introductions of Leonard and Octavia are carried out, the crew leave for the next island.

Level/Chapter 3:
Upon arriving to the third island, which is a snowy/frozen island, the crew are approached by a man, named Shurik. He explains who he is, revealing that he’s a doctor, and that he requires help from the protagonist. It is explained that there are a number of people who have fallen ill, and that there are medical herbs located on another section of the island that the doctor could help them. However he lacks the strength to obtain them, as that section of the island is overrun by mechanical minions.

Ace agrees to help, and journeys off to the section of the island to find the medical herbs. During this task he encounters the mechanical minions, and is required to fight them off to obtain what’s needed. Upon defeating these enemies and collecting the supplies, Ace returns to the doctor, who thanks him for his hardships. They also exchange in a conversation where the doctor asks why Ace has came to this island, which leads to Ace explaining his objective. To show his thanks to Ace, the doctor provides Ace with information on the possible location of the map, being some frozen ruins that are on the island, and then shortly after rushes off inside a building to help his patients.

The protagonist then ventures around the island with Opi to find the ruins in hopes of obtaining the next fragment of the map, until they eventually arrive at the ruins (once the player finds this location). Upon entering, they are met with another puzzle which must be solved to obtain what they desire. Once the puzzle is completed, the chest inside the ruins unlocks, allowing Ace to obtain the map, and see the location he’ll next be heading for.

Now having obtained the map fragment of the island, Ace and Opi return to ship, but are encounter by not just Leonard, but also the doctor, William.
It is soon revealed that William wishes to travel with Ace and his crew to gain access to the other islands to help others who might be sick, or have been affected by the attack of the mechanical creatures, but also to assist Ace himself, who is likely to encounter the dangers of the sea once again. Ace, having no reason to refuse, allows William to join the crew.

Soon after, Ace and the other crew members board the ship and leave the island (when the player decided to leave), as they head to their next destination.

Level/Chapter 4:

During the approach to their next destination all seems well. The journey is going relatively smooth, and the sea seems calm. But there’s more than meets they eyes here.

As Ace has been progressing with his journey, he has been travelling closer and closer to the dangerous territory of one of the most rumoured and feared mechanical creatures, the mecha shark.

Out of nowhere the calmness of the ocean is pierced by the screech of the shark as it attack the crews ship. The shark fails to eat the ship, but succeeds in biting a chunk out of the ship, leading to the ship and the crew aboard becoming shipwrecked on the next island. This island being a mountainous island with a number of minor waterfalls, and one main waterfall.

 

Upon awakening after blacking out at sea, the crew find themselves luckily on the island that they were aiming for. However they find that their ship was beached, and received heavy damage during the attack. Ace questions what it was that actually attacked the ship, which is replied with William talking of the tales he’s heard of a mechanical monster of the sea, and then Leonard adding by saying he caught a glimpse of the monster, and that it matched the shark told in the tales of other sailors and fishermen (protagonist/player learn of the antagonist).
Ace, however, still has the task of locating the next map, so it is agreed by the crew that they’ll try and see if there's any way off the island, while Ace and Opi search for the map.

Upon looking around the island and realising that the ruins are hidden behind the waterfall, both Ace and Opi take a leap of faith, and end up entering the ruins. Following tradition of the ruins, Ace (/the player) must then solve the puzzle of the ruins to obtain the next map fragment. Upon completing the puzzle and obtaining the map, the location of the next island is shown.

When Ace and Opi return to the other crew members, they find out that the ship is beyond repair and that they found no other way off of the island. However, with luck once again being at their side, they spot a pirate ship approaching the island, who have been attracted by the sight of a beached ship, and the possible loots it may have contained. Ace and his crew realise that stealing their ship will be the only way off of the island, so they prepare to do as stated. As the pirates leave their ship to inspect the Ace’s crews ship, Ace and his crew sneak onto the pirate ship, and escape the island, leaving behind the previous owners of the ship.

The crew, now with the stolen ship, leave the island, and head to their next destination.

Level/Chapter 5:
While approaching the next island, the crew mention how the ship is running low on general supplies such as ship ammunition, which Leonard then goes on to explain the importance of, due to the presence of the mechanical monster that lurks the seas (this being the mecha shark).

When arriving at the island, Ace travels into the small village located on the edge of the island. During the mean time, Leonard remains at the ship, and William travels into town to see if there’s any people needing medical assistance.
Ace progresses his way through the village, asking whether the different people sell ship supplies.
Eventually he encounters a woman,  willing to sell what he’s looking for. To begin with she questions Ace why he needs the cannon balls, which is then explained (that they’re likely to meet the mecha shark once again). Upon hearing this, she asks to meet Aces crew, while bringing the supplies he had purchased. As she meets with the crew, and is introduced, she learns the different roles that the crew members cover, and realises they’re missing one key role, being a gunner, which is coincidentally her specialty. Rosa states that she wishes to join the crew, as she seeks revenge against the shark, and from what she’s heard, the crew will likely encounter the shark once again. The crew, having no reason to refuse, allow her to join the crew. Upon doing so, Ace asks her if she knows any possible locations of the map fragments whereabouts, which is answered by Rosa hinting about some ruins within the volcano.

Ace then ventures off inside of the volcano, to find the ruins and complete its puzzle, to then obtain the next map fragment, which ends up being the last of the map fragments, meaning the map has finally been fully restored. A new location is shown on the map, being the final destination.
Upon returning to the crew, the final island/location can be traveled to.

Level/Chapter 6:
The crew travel to the location shown on the map, but upon arriving they aren't met with an island, but are instead met with a ship graveyard. But it's not just any ship graveyard, it's the mechanical sharks hunting grounds. Once again the protagonist and his crew are attacked by the mecha shark. Although they now posses a better ship and a crew member who specialises with cannons, the protagonist and his crew still fail to fend off the shark, and are eaten along with their ship.

Luckily, the ship only sustains minimum damage and the crew only receive minor injuries.
The crew, along with their ship, now find themselves inside of the sharks stomach. Shortly after being eaten, the crew are encountered by a man, who ends up being the protagonists father. This finally explaining the reason he went missing (being that he himself also encountered the same fate as the protagonist), but also concludes the protagonists main objective of wanting to find his father. However, they still need to find a way out of the shark. The father explains that since their ship was eaten but remained in a reasonable condition, he could fix and even upgrade it if the protagonist can find the required parts from other shipwrecks inside the sharks stomach (this becoming the collection dynamic for the level).

Upon collecting all of the requested parts, the father manages to repair and upgrade the ship. The crew once again board the ship and, with the upgraded cannons, blast out of the sharks stomach. The enrages the shark, as it just took damage, but also lost it's meal, and so attacks the protagonists ship once again. This being where the final fight between the protagonist and his crew and the antagonist occurs (boss fight shown by gameplay).
Upon defeating the boss, the antagonist sinks into the ocean, and the protagonist and his crew sail of into the sun set, with all of the crew having completed what they set out to do. 

Characters (Major):

Ace:

The protagonist of this story and the player character. Ace is a rebellious and adventurous seventeen year old teenage who has already experienced more hardship in his life than most. His childhood was spent facing more difficulties than others as he only possessed one arm since his birth. Although this soon changed when his father, who during this games story is missing, designed and created him a mechanical prosthetic, which Ace now makes use of to the fullest in his everyday life.
However, the hardships that Ace will encounter do not end there, as the story of the game starts with his home island being invaded and attacked by mechanical crabs. During this attack Ace’s mother receives a fatal wound which leads to her death. Ace is of course saddened by his mothers death, but knows she wouldn’t want him to live a life of sorrow.  
 

Octavia/Opi:

The sidekick of the protagonist, and the main gameplay companion throughout the game. The octopus Octavia is a young female octopus, being 1 year old in Octopus years, and is a rather weak and timid individual, which is often shown with her running away from the first sight of what could be danger. Her recent past has consisted of her living on a jungle desert island all alone, with the occasional encounter with some mechanical fiends.
However upon being saved by Ace during the story, and deciding to join him on his journey, she finds the bravery to fight along with him to make sure she’s can be useful and repay her gratitude. She additionally receives the nickname ‘Opi’ from Ace.
 

Amelia:

The mother of Ace, the stories protagonist. Amelia is a 45 years old mother, to Ace, and wife of Hugh. She’s one of most kind and individuals you’ll ever meet, even after going through the hardships of raising her son alone after her husbands disappearance. Although her husband, Hugh went missing, she never lost faith in him, and still believes that he’s alive somewhere in the world, and wishes for his return so her family can once again be together again. During the first level, Amelia receives a fatal wound while fending off a group of mechanical minions to protect her son, which leads to her death. While regretting not being able to find her husband, she’s happy to know that her son is willing to find his father even after her passing, to allow her to rest easily.
 

Hugh:

A 47 year old father, of Ace (the stories protagonist), and the husband of Amelia. Hugh is one of few individuals in the world to understand the steampunk technology and machinery that is surfacing around the world. He himself was once totally new to the concept, but with his natural genius and love of traveling and learning, became capable of creating his own machinery. One of his inventions was an arm for his own son, Ace, who was born without his arm. Shortly after this Hugh left on an adventure, upon hearing of a rumored location at sea (this being where the protagonist eventually travels to). While on his journey, he finds the location, but then finds that the mechanical shark roams the seas there, and is eaten along with his ship. He survives, however, but his ship is damaged beyond repair, leading to him becoming stranded inside the sharks stomach for many years, until his son also encounters the same fate.

Characters (Minor):

Leonard/Leo:
The first person to join Ace’s crew. Aged 26, Leonard spent most of his days sailing out to sea on his boat to fish. At a young age he was left alone due to the death of his parents, but thanks to the care and kindness of a married couple on his home island, Hugh and Amelia (the protagonists parents), he was able to grow up with parental figures. Leonard also owes thanks to Hugh for also creating his prosthetic leg, after receiving an injury one day while out at sea.
While hardworking, he is also a caring individual, likely due to the influence of Hugh and Amelia.
During the story, upon hearing of Amelia’s death, just like Ace, feels remorse, but for Ace’s sake knows he must act strong. Upon learning of Amelia’s and Ace’s wishes, he decided to assist Ace on his journey to find his father.
 

Shurik:
The 2nd human to join Ace’s crew. Aged 37, Shurik spends his days aiming to help others by putting his skills and knowledge as a doctor to use. He is a kind soul, but takes his job extremely serious as there are time where others lives depend on him. During the story he is found on his home island (3rd island) seeking help to obtain some medical supplies. After being helped by the protagonist, he asks to join to crew to help with journey, but to also gain passage to other islands allowing him to help others who might be in need of medical help.
 

Rosa:
The 3rd human to join the crew. Aged 28, Shurik spends her days living on the 5th island (volcanic island), and lives her daily life as a blacksmith. Rosa has also had a life of hardship, as she experienced the loss of her family during one of the antagonists hunger induced attacks. This leading to her living with a grudge, a with the intent on one day seeing the antagonists downfall, whether to her, or from the supplies that she creates. Though she has a fierce and sometimes cold personality, she still cares to those close to her.
During the story of the game, she joins Aces crew and becomes the crews gunner. During her time alone, she became acquainted and unnaturally skilled with guns and cannons, mainly with the intent of showing strength in the face of those trying to double cross her during her work (pirates attempting to con and steal from her).

Crew Member 2 (Doctor) – somewhat Russian influence in terms of name/island
Crew Member 3 (Gunner) – somewhat Italian influence in terms of name/island

Enemies:

Mechanical Shark:
The antagonist and main boss of the game. Although having the appearance of a shark, this behemoth is a concoction of metal and machinery unlike any other shark you’d expect to see. This being has lived on for over a hundred years by consuming other ships that it has encountered sailing the ocean, as the ships are made of the resources that this being hungers and survives on. Many have tried to fend of this monster at sea, but with its steel plated body, all have failed. Only few have lived to tell the tale.
 

Mechanical crab variation 1:
Minion class enemy. Although being relatively weak, this enemy is commonly spotted traveling in packs, making them many times more dangerous. These enemies are a common sighting on many islands, as they scout out and attack islands and the people who inhabit them. While being the weakest of the minions, any ordinary opponent would fail to defeat a group of them, as their metallic bodies are sturdy and resistant to the attack of feeble humans.
 

Mechanical crab variation 2:
Minion  class enemy (could count as mini-boss). This enemy is commonly spotted leading and roaming around with groups of the more common, and smaller mechanical crabs (variation 1). This crab takes full advantage of it’s body, by using its larger and much stronger pincer to attack and cause devastating damage. Although holding the capacity to throw out more dangerous attacks, this enemies one down fall is the time it takes the reposition itself after attacking, as it must pull back its heavy plated mechanical claws.

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Mechanical pufferfish:
 Minion class enemy. These enemies are only spotted while sailing the ocean. Some float at sea level, where as others sit lower down under the surface level, but both variants have the same intention of exploding when unaware ships collide with them. By exploding and damaging ships, they create an easy meal for the hungry mechanical shark that roams the seas.

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Mechanical turtle:
Minion class enemy. Although this enemy is considered the weakest among the mechanical creatures, it has a strength that tops all of the other minions, being its defense, as it boasts one of the highest defenses out of the minion class enemies due to its reinforced metallic shell plating. This make it difficult to deal with, but unlike the others, is usually spotted alone or in smaller groups.

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Mechanical Isopod:
Minion class enemy. This creature can be particularly difficult to deal with, as it attacks by curling up into a ball and firing itself at its target. While curled up, the creatures becomes fully encased by it’s metallic shell, making any weak points much harder to find and hit. When curled up into a ball and firing itself, it often damages it surroundings as it becomes similar to a cannonball, in terms of shape, power, and substance.

As briefly explained during the short bio, the antagonists has motivation for what he does, being eating ships to satisfy his hunger. If he doesn’t eat, much like any other living being, it’ll eventually starve and die. So it could be said that the antagonists motivation is his source of hunger which drives him to destroy and eat more and more ships.
Before the  story of the game, this being and the protagonist had no relation whatsoever. However, during the story, the antagonist has his first encounter with the protagonist and his crew/their ship, and attempts to consume it, like he would to any ship he finds. During this attempts he fails to eat their ship, making them aware of his presence and allowing them to prepare for future encounters. Although when the shark next meets their ship once again, he manages to eat it whole. This does however lead to the downfall of the shark, as the characters inside the shark (being the crew and the protagonists father) manage to repair and upgrade the ship, and blast out of the shark, and after a battle at sea, manage to defeat this monster.

 

The minion class enemies have a similar motivation to the antagonist, as they too attack to obtain food. Although their approach is different, as many of them can travel on land and travel to human settlements to obtain the resources needed to consume and survive. During the opening to the game, the protagonist has his first encounter with these enemies, as one of the villages/islands they attack is the home of our protagonist home island. During this attack, his mother sadly dies, leading to the protagonists link to these mechanical minions, being that they’re his enemy, is established.

Game World:

The Game World Itself: The era the world is set in is somewhat comparable to existing eras from history, being the pirate era and Victorian era, so around the time of the 17/1800s, which we felt was fitting as our game includes aspects from both eras (one being, of course, the pirate theme, but the other being the steampunk theme, which is heavily Victorian related). Throughout the world, these two ears are made visible by the pirates sailing the seas, and then the steampunk theme being visible by the mechanical body parts that many have, as well as the mechanical enemies and ships that are also apparent. 
However the game/story world itself is comparable to our Earth, as it includes a number of different islands which each have different themes/conditions (at least the islands for the main story), separated by the seas and ocean. much like the different countries across the real Earth.

The islands/villages have yet to be named, so for now we’ll refer to them by their level order and themes.
 

Level 1:
The first island of the game/story. A relatively small beach island, with its main feature being the small market village. The building of this island has a style similar to that of the Tudor architectural style, where the building makes use of wood (for its supports) and stone. The people of this island earn an income via this market village, with many trading and selling items such as fish. However, as of the stories/games start, this isn’t too apparent, as the village is being attacked, with many buildings being damaged and some even burning (until after the timeskip where the impacts from the invasion have died down).
 

Level 2:
The second island of the game/story. The island is, and has been uninhabited for many years, which is apparent by the conditions and environment shown. The island consists of two varying areas, with one being a vast desert, and the other being an overgrown jungle. Located within this jungle are some ancient stone ruins, which is where the puzzle is which the player is required to solve to obtain the stored map fragment.
 

Level 3:
The third island of the game/story. Although the island is constantly cold and frozen all year round, there are still humans that occupy the island In villages. The people of the island. How, however, have prioritized from these cold harsh conditions, by creating building from ice itself to shelter them from the cold, which, due to the ever cold conditions, have and will never melt. Located on the island, away from the village, are some stone ruins that have been frozen over (this being where the puzzle/map fragment is located).
 

Level 4:
he fourth island of the game/story. This island mostly consists of a mountainous landscape, with a large waterfall located on the islands main cliff/mountain. The coastline of the island is mainly beach, which then fades into/with the mountainous terrain. In a cave behind the waterfall, the islands ruins are located, which is where the protagonist will find the map fragment.
 

Level 5:
The fifth island of the game/story. This island is set on a rocky volcanic island, with a number of ‘lava streams’ flowing through the island (much like usual streams/rivers of water, but with lava). The inhabitants of the island use its heat to their advantage and benefit from it in their everyday lives (such as by using the heat as a source/element to help with their work). The ruins of this island are located within its volcano.
 

Level 6:
Level six takes a different form to the previous levels, as it takes place in two different locations. The first of which is inside the mechanical sharks stomach, where there are a number of shipwrecks (other ships the shark has consumed). The setting of this would mainly be machinery, with metallic platforms and ledges. Once the boss fight/final fight of the game begins, the level s location moves to outside of the sharks stomach to the ocean/sea, where there are signs of destroyed ships (some wreckage and debris floating around).

Bonus Material:
Bonus material could take a number of different shapes or forms for our game.

As we will be pushed for time, we won’t be implementing side quests into the game demo that we’re creating. However, if the full fledged game was to be created we’d hope for some sort of quest system to be in the game,  which focuses on carrying out tasks requested by NPCs throughout certain levels to obtain a reward (which would vary depending on the other material of the game)

As we are hoping to make use of an inventory system, one area of bonus material would be additional weapons the player can obtain/collect throughout the different levels by adventuring around the world, or even by completing side quests.

Another bonus that many other games also make use of is character customization. This is something that we would have also liked to implement, even if the customization was simple colour changes to the player characters model, or if different clothing items could be obtained (such as an outfit for each island, which could give the player a specific power-up related to the island the outfit was obtained from).
While on the note of customization, another are of this would be the sidekick. During the levels we plan to create, the sidekick will hopefully appear and get too be shown off, but there more that we would have like to do with her character, which is just to give her some fun little customizations in the form of different hats that can be obtained and equipped to her (such as a stereotypical pirate hat and other themed/styled items).

Gameplay wise, these bonuses have little impact on the gameplay experience as most of the themes make use of customization (for the protagonist and sidekick). However, in terms of the different collectable weapons throughout the world, these could impact the game by having different ‘strength levels’ (so the different weapons deal different amounts of damage possibly). However if this was to be made use of effectively, the enemies would also need to become more difficult (so stronger weapons make defeating them easier).