The entire Creative Juggernaut team spent a lot of time giving serious consideration as to the world where the novels and the game will reside. First step, when would this take place? Well, the setting is Earth but how far in the future did we want the universe to be set in. We wanted it in the future but not so far in the future that it was not recognizable. As Brent said throughout the process, “I want players to be able to run the games in their hometowns or cities.” That meant we couldn’t go too far out.
I proposed 25 years. Things would be different, but not horrifically. Some technologies have advanced, and we spent a lot of time going over what was realistic, while others are reskinned versions of what exists now.
That opened the door to “what has happened in the 25 intervening years?” A lot has happened! The first cyber-war – coupled with military action against Russia. Russia also played a trump card in the conflict. That war would define some of the characters in the novel series.
The neatest place we saw change was in the military. How would the infantryman of the future be equipped? What was their gear like? What are the role of drones on the battlefield? Technologies that are on the drawing board now would be almost old-fashioned in 25 years. Warfare has changed a lot in the last few decades. Imagine what kinds of changes you might envision in the future and you get an idea of how cool our meetings were. Designing those changes would have implications in all of the LAND & SEA products.
We didn’t box ourselves in. As I penned the novels in the opening series, we met as a team and challenged some of the concepts. This made us go back and make changes in our earlier assumption. I It was a blast. I have always wanted to be a part of a dynamic universe creation, and that was what it was all about. Even the most minor details in the novels were debated, validated, and agreed upon.
The result – a very different world, yet one that is remarkably recognizable. There’s none of this “were’s not in Kansas anymore Toto…” moments. You don’t have to digest dozens of pages to learn what has transpired in two and a half decades to get into the universe.
More importantly, for gaming purposes, we didn’t lose Brent’s desire to be able to use GoogleMaps to set up your gaming session. LAND & SEA is a war that will be fought around the globe and right in your hometown.