Research and Story design

My game story during the pitch project was about a post apoplectic earth and this raised some concerns to the viewers and teachers of the pitch due to the amount of post apoplectic already on the market today. My issue was i had based my game around the story and immersion element of the game. Over the last couple of days I've been thinking of ways to change my story it both improve the idea and not to change the plays, style and mechanic ideas i already have.

I got a idea that i feel would work and open up more possibilities for my game and story. My story being based around a war and wasteland has been changed to a newly colonised planet many lightyears away from earth. This gives me a new world to build upon more freely. Designing a game on based on today and earth limits us with what can be real and what is clearly overly fantasy. As i want to make my FPS as real as i can i wouldn't have much freedom to explore new landscapes and areas in my original idea but a new planet will give more change to allow players to view a new fantasy that can be realistic because they haven't experienced it before.

By going with this idea there are some areas i will need to research and understand before i can take on more depth of my story. I intend to look into realistic ideas of colonzing planets and other details of space that may influence my story and make the game seem realistic. Other areas that will help me with this research is looking at films using Avatar by james cameron as an example i can look into other peoples ideas of other planets and issues of living on new worlds. I found out that Wayne Douglas Barlowe wrote a book called 'Expedition' which is a documentary of his experience on a alien world. The book was about documenting his made up adventure but in doing so creating a realistic idea of a alien planet. I would like to try to get this book to read and see how this author has created a new world.

I also want research into the american war of independence and the british empire because i feel that my game will be based around the fall of commutation of two planets leading one to make its own rules and create a world that shouldn't of happened. This is the same idea has how the discovery of new countries by the british empire and how they communicated and the fall of the empire and how america fought to become a country of its own.