Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Writing the plot
There was no WWII in the parallel universe. In the late 1940s, several countries
together built a railroad encircling the planet called Trans-Terra Railroad. It covers
thousands of kilometers on land, running through major capitals, gnawing through
mountains and deep forests, and flying over valleys by elegant arc bridges. Oceans
and seas are not barriers anymore as the railroad floats over waves, relying on the
grid of special automatic airships.
Trans-Terra Railroad uses special trains known as Trans-Terra Express, which look
like small moving cities with huge powerful diesel locomotives ahead. Each express
train is made up of dozens of residential cars, including several luxury ones where
some famous and rich people may travel with a proper level of comfort. There
are also special cars with prestigious restaurants, bars, coffee houses, theaters,
cinemas, libraries, and one swimming pool. A few cars carry a collection of exotic
plants and have special roofs made of glass; they can be considered as moving or-
angeries.
This is not a dystopian story, so there are no slums or ghettos in such a train. But
there are third-class cars that are much simpler, featuring moderate decoration and
smaller living spaces. Also, the last part of the train is an improvised industrial zone
consisting of different engineering modules, including boiler rooms, communication
centers, waste recycling zone, workshops, storages, and so on.
Trans-Terra Expresses does not have any stops; it is always very hard to accelerate
such a mechanical leviathan, and so special small airplanes are used to take pas-
sengers on and off the train. They land on the special landing pad, mounted on the
forward part of the locomotive. This is not an easy job, so only very professional pi-
lots can manage it. Anna-Amelia, the protagonist of the story, is not a professional
pilot. She is not like her father who made more than several thousands of successful
landings on Trans-Terra Expresses. But Anna-Amelia dreamed to be a high-quality
pilot from her early childhood. She has already had a lot of training and has spent
hundreds of hours in the sky, but she has not appeared for the final flying exam yet;
she is only a student without official permission to control a plane.
