Well, what would people like to see in a fan made sequel to the dig?

Post your ideas here, be it single scenes, simple ideas, or even an entire script!

We can use this thread to bounce ideas off each other.

I think any game related to The Dig, be it fan made or LucasArts made, would have to retain the feeling of a desolate, uninhabited and ancient place. That is one of the most unique and interesting aspects to the original game. You're stuck on some planet (or whatever), and you have no idea where it is, who lived there, why you are there and how you can get back home. It's magical, mystical and monumental, and totally beyond your comprehension.

If any sequel were to be set in a place any different from that, it just wouldn't be The Dig. To me, anyway... what do others think? (I'm bouncing my idea :) )

I agree totally with you said.

The beauty of the game was what set it apart from other adventures. The idea of walking around the fantastically serene and magnificant landscapes that no-one has walked on for countless years was quite, as you put it, magical.

Now I do feel that it would be impossible to capture the same feel if you returned to that spot on Cocytus, and if you went to another environment other than Cocytus, it would be hard to make the story true. I mean, I don't think we could just up and make The Dig 2 about different aliens on a different planet.

Perhaps they could return to a different part of the planet that's having some troubles, and the story could be interwoven with the parts of the planet that have been repopulated by the Cocytians returned from Space-Time 6.

The sequel can't really just be a remake of The Dig, it has to have progressed from the original game.

Maybe the Dig 2 should be like one cocytan that flees to America to get help because something else happened, but he lands in ANTARTICA!!!! That's desolate, and no one is around... then he ends up finding his way to California, and gets famous, but hates being famous, finds Low in Cali somewhere, and brings him back, and they could go back to the planet again, and you would see familiar areas, but they would be built up or populated more... it would be wicked cool... oh yeah also Low and Maggie get married, and Brink throws the javalin...

Should the player be a human or a Cocytian?

I think that it would be rather difficult to identify with the Cocytian because they are alien, and, as is well documented in the novel especially, their "thinking patterns" would differ from humans'. In order to maintain a realistic storyline, I don't think the player could or should be a Cocytian. That's not to say that a living Cocytian couldn't be part of the player's group, just not the player himself. In fact, it would be both interesting and useful to have an alien in any group ;)

As far as location goes, I agree that returning to the same place would make no sense, and that going somewhere else is also a bad idea. Certainly, though, it would be interesting to see what they'd done with the place since we last saw it. :) These days, I'd like to see the ability to travel all over Cocytus. It'd definately take a long time to repopulate an entire planet, and therefore there would be many places reflecting the desolation of the space port. But, you'd lose the whole mysterious element if you knew where you were.

Now that I've thought about it, I'm not sure that you could really fully replicate the nature of the first game. I remember when I first played it, and first got to Cocytus, I had absolutely no idea what was going on. Almost everything that happened was a surprise. I believe it would be hard for seasoned Diggers (now there's a word) like us to recapture that feeling. Hopefully I'm wrong.

Your quit right, repopulating would take quite a long time. So much of the planet would be empty.

As with most population distributions, certain areas would be populated first, and others left until later. This would allow the player to visit the cities on occasion, whilst still managing to spend a significant amount of time in isolation.

As for having a Cocytian as part of your group, for some of the game, I think that's a good idea.

As for getting the guys back on Cocytus, one of the aliens could bring them back, because the civilization is in trouble, and the alien knows how they helped the Cocytians get back from Space Time 6. The cocytian in the group could either be that particular alien or his protege etc.

To me, if it didn't have the origional crew in it somewhere, it just wouldn't be The Dig.

Also, as strange as this may sound, there is nothing else on Cocytus besides the island. It says in the strategy guide that ages ago the polar ice caps melted from a solar flare leaving nothing but the island standing. The island and spires were the top of the tallest mountain on the planet so they were spared. The book contradicts this at one point and says something about other continents as a passing mention.

That is interesting. I don't have the strategy guide (yet, anyway) so I didn't know that. I have read the novel, though, so I assumed there were other continents. Does it say in the strategy guide how many Cocytans survived the ice cap melt? And how they got to the top of the highest mountain? I guess a solar flare with enough power to do anything would melt them quickly (but I'm not an astronomer).

I was under the impression that they constructed the islands as a welcoming star port for aliens. I think the creator says something about that in the game, and that is definately echoed in the novel. It suggests to me that there are other continents or at least other islands.

That leads me to ask: what should be considered as Dig 'canon'? The game, the strategy guide or the novel? I place a vote for the game.

This was after the cocytans went into the eye. It says they watched it happen.

The strategy guide and the game are basically the same thing anyway, the info in the strategy guide is just background info for the game taken from the game designers and writers.

OK, I didn't think of that! Isn't it lucky for our intrepid crew that the starport was on the highest mountain and not a wide mountainless plain.

I think the assumption can be made that the Cocytans would refreeze their ice caps once they'd returned from ST6. They must have had a few years to think up a way to do it whilst there. So that means our previous conversation can still be valid. :cool:

As far as canon is concerned, I do now remember reading on the site about how the strategy guide was compiled, I was just not remembering when I asked the question. I really need a copy of the strategy guide, but until I get one, I'll keep putting my foot in it anyway.

So, what sort of problem could the Cocytans have that might require the return of the Earthlings?

It says that it was origionally, because of it's size(It was the highest mountain on cocytus) and because it had five spires(The Cocytans had a special reverance for the number five, it says in the same section), called the Sacred Mountain, and henceforth they hollowed out the bowl shaped depression, the spires, and filled the spires with all the wonders of cocytan technology, all of the things they considered momentous or incredibly special including the tomb of the creator. They also placed samples of every animal they could find, the more dangerous confined to force fields which broke down a long time after the cocytans went into spacetime six. This is all taken, again, from the strategy guide. I need to type up the whole section really and put it on my site.

As for why the cocytans would need humans again, perhaps we don't know they need them at first. The Cocytans invite the origional crew and some of earth's finest minds and some politicians to take a tour of the changed Cocytus. While there, they discover some kind of sinister secret or conspiracy against the Cocytans, and in the process one of the politicians is killed, the death being blamed on a prominent Cocytan. Now the origional crew and the newbies have to help the cocytans yet again while saving the relationship between Cocytus and Earth.

Edit-I forgot to put something. :rolleyes:

Brilliant! We have a basis. Now we just need someone to make it (and deal with the whole 'cease and desist' business ;) )

Hi everybody!

About a sequel of "The Dig"...
Well, I had an idea about the story.

This it is:
10 years after Boston, Ludger and Maggie comeback to our planet, the sphere of Spacetime 6 was growing up and was totally uncontrolable. It quickly gobbled a half Cocytus. The cocytans couldnґt escape from it, they went to Spacetime 6 again, and when they wanted to comeback to Cocytus, they discovered that Spacetime 6 was different, and now all the cocitans were all lost, except one. This guy named Shutsom, was visiting the Earth at the moment of the disaster. When he cameback to Cocytus, he saw the terrific sphere of Spacetime 6. He went to the Earth again and explained what was happening. In the Earth, a rescue mission was created. Boston Low, Ludger Brink, and Maggie Robbins, and Shutsom participated in this mission, they're the most experienced for explore the new Spacetime 6. Four days later, they departure to Yelmo, one of the moons of Cocytus, because Cocytus was now the worst place to stay. There a small base was build up, and when Shutsom was sending a robot to explore, Spacetime 6 disappeared. Boston and the others went to Cocytus, but... there wasnґt any life form. Boston discovered that the Eye was empty. What was happening? And how could Boston bring the cocytans back to the real world? Suddenly, a gohst appeared, and told the team that the sphere of Spacetime 6 was on Redmo, the other moon of Cocytus. Boston and the others went to Redmo. Shutsom send the robot into Spacetime 6. The robot send to Shutsom no image, map, or anything. It was like the robot was turned off. It never returned. Shutsom couldn't support all of this, and he went to Spacetime 6. Boston ant the others waited for him twelve hours, and Boston went to Spacetime 6. Low found everybody again and could comeback to Redmo. Low was the onlyone who can comback from Spacetime 6. Why? Because the humans had a stronger mind than the cocytans'. Later, the cocytans thanked all and destroyed the sphere of Spacetime 6 forever.

It's cool, isn't it?

And what if a fan makes a PREQUEL of "The Dig"?

Sorry for my poor english :D

Hi guillepb! Welcome to the forum!

I love your story idea! There's plenty of scope for a game within it. One question I have for you, though, is how does the Eye move to the moon? It seems to require the power that is only available at the starport for it to be opened. I'm not sure the Eye could naturally move to the moon. However, other than that I like it, and such a small detail doesn't really affect the rest of the story anyway. :)

I'm interested in the names you used. As far as I know, there are no examples of Cocytan names anywhere? (Unless they are in the Strategy Guide, which, as I have said, I don't have. I'd love to see any particular examples included in the guide, if anyone can be bothered.)

I'd love to hear some ideas for a prequel. I suppose a prequel would not involve humans in any way. That would certainly be a challenging project, especially for an amateur.

PS Your English is better than some who call it their mother tongue! ;)

The only problem with the idea is that the eye can never move unless the generator is moved to a different area because the generator is the source of it's power and that would be impossible if the eye swallowed up the cocytans because there would be nobody to move it.
Also, the light bridges from the spires are necessary for it to function, as is some sort of crystal that is only briefly shown in the game(Light bounces off of it during the cutscene where the eye is activated and hits the actual eye and turns it into the solid crystal with a doorway)

Oh and the moons don't have any names. It is never mentioned in the strategy guide, novel, nor game, but making up names for them for a fangame is a good idea.

A prequel would be a tad bit pointless considering we all know what happens to the cocytans, unless it was before the creator made the eye but then what would it be about? They lived pretty much normal(Well, for a cocytan) lives up until the creator invented the life crystals and the eye.

Well, if anyone's interested still ... The main plot of my sequel was not going to have the same cast. (This is a much revised version of my early plot) I felt this was the only way to preserve the game's integrity and freshness. However, the chances of Miles and Cora coming back was not an impossibility for me. My plot had involved the eventual exploration of Mars as a possible water source besides Earth. Earth has nearly depleted it's limited fresh water supply and the team sent to extract the resource has not been heard from for a year (several months over the time designated for their arrival) ... of course I have no idea how long it would take to get there, but you get the idea. A rescue team gets sent (much smaller vessel) to investigate the delay and find that the extraction vessel had made it, but, for reasons unknown, the crew can not be found. (I have a lot more but it would spoil it for anyone who wanted to play)

If you're interested, you can e-mail me for more, but that's all I can give out without defeating the purpose of playing.

Hi TogaMario

I like your idea, though I don't think fresh water would be a realistic resource to get from Mars. Rather, I think desalinization plants would be used to convert salt water into fresh water, as they are used now. The only reason we'd need to get water from Mars is if all the oceans dried up on Earth. However, if that happened, we'd all be dead very very quickly anyway. I don't mean to put a dampener on your story, though! :) Perhaps a rarer and more materialistically valuable substance (ie precious metals) could be the motivation for the first expedition.

Cora Miles would be a good character to reintroduce, as she was a candidate for Governorship or some such US governmental position in the original story. Perhaps she could be the one who organises the mission. Of course, Ken Borden could be the pilot of the rescue mission.

Will the Cocytans be involved at all? Are you personally making this game, or is it just an idea for the future? As you're probably aware, making a fan game these days is frought with legal difficulties!

Didn't know they had those now! Really, I didn't! Sorry I got the character mixed up too (I knew there were two less-remembered characters, but I messed up by putting Cora's name on there twice) ... it's been a while, it's time to reinstall and play my heart out again! Basically, I was working on that idea, then complications arose (other than legal ones) that led to my quitting. I was the only one worling on it namely :) One other person offered, but that wasn't enough. And now I have no time because of school and work. But the water idea came from a basic need of life idea. Other resources could've worked in the situation, though I had more plans for water than ANYTHING :) Even if I made this game, the legality of it wouldn't be an issue ;) I wouldn't sell it, i'd give it out. And it's not like it's THEIR work! lol, they shouldn't be uptight. I thought they only sued you if money was involved. Could be wrong, I've never been sued ;) But yeah, I would've loved working on it doing art and character development (which i'm taking classes for now, Digital Art and Animation) but i've lost time! And that's the most important thing to have when doing a project such as this. I would restart later in life, however, when school is out (in about 1 and a half years) If anyone's interested then ;)

Maybe George Lucas will listen to me when i'm WORKING for LucasArts...

I was considering them to be part of the story also, but their home was definitely not Mars :( Then that opened the door to more planets than Mars and it widened my resources search too. Overall, I think I came up with 10 different workable stories, meshed ideas and came out with the one you heard. I really wanted to have the team sent to a point in Earth's mystic past (alternate dimension i guess) that had the innate magical capability to return them to their own time line (multiple ending possibilities out the yang) but I don't know how well that would've worked ... you could've kept the original cast though! :p If anyone wants me to work on development of a game, FELL FREE TO ASK, but I can't do the job by myself. I can do art and animation, I can do programming, I can do story and plot, I can even do voice-overs but I can't do it all, lol. Story and plot seem to be the only thing I can do at present that don't impede on my studies too much. I write stories for my characters that I develop all the time. Backgrounds, family, personality notes, sketches, but not full renderings. You get the pic. Thanks for your feedback though, I really appreciate it! It's that kind of help and support that drove me in the earlier parts of this year to start the project, but the hopes of many could not help the efforts of few (1).

Sincerely,
Tyler Drinkard

P.S. If I have anything to do with it, in my lifetime, Dig 2 will get made ;)

Originally posted by TogaMario
Didn't know they had those now! Really, I didn't! ... But the water idea came from a basic need of life idea. Other resources could've worked in the situation, though I had more plans for water than ANYTHING :)

You know, now that I think about it, I might be getting reality and SimCity 3000 mixed up. :) Water treatment is not one of my areas of speciality. However, I still think we'd try to use salt water before importing it from Mars.

Originally posted by TogaMario
Even if I made this game, the legality of it wouldn't be an issue ;) I wouldn't sell it, i'd give it out. And it's not like it's THEIR work! lol, they shouldn't be uptight. I thought they only sued you if money was involved. Could be wrong, I've never been sued ;)

Previous fan game efforts (such as the previous dig.mixnmojo webmaster's game) have been served cease and desist letters, and might possibly have been sued if they had not ceased and desisted. Even if they're free. Whether that's uptight or not is debatable. A good discussion on this is available at http://www.adventuredevelopers.com).

Hmm...Well it's a good idea to make a game ...But as you were saying it would be not the same DIG ancient and desolate environment...

BTW ...When i was playing StarCraft(Protoss race) i felt almost like i'm playing for cocytuans...The music and environments were very alike..the mood during gameplay was pretty close to the Dig gameplay.....

what do you think...



I say - DIG-3D SE online - fan game and DIG game(using old but enchanced Game-CD sounds and music but in new graphical 3D envelope .:) So people play it from all points of View...:)

Hi, there.

I have also planed to make a unoffiziel sequel to "The Dig".

I have read the possible stories of "The Dig 2", but I have my own story which I won't tell you. ;)

The Website will be lauched in August.

Greetings,

Ralf

Just a really crazy idea of some story element you could throw in...

The crew from the original game could be the ones responsible for crashing the wrecked ship that we saw near the dais on the central island... This would require time travel, and we know this could be feasible in a Dig universe, because of the existence of "Spacetime Six." But, for instance, Boston could find the bracelet and its tracking device, and think he was looking at a duplicate of the one he had found earlier... and, while traveling in a spaceship, accidentally end up crashing on the Central Island before he ever arrived on Cocytus in the first place. In which case, he might bury the bracelet in the grave himself.

This could work as just a short "scene" in the game, and there could be many other times and locations on Cocytus in which the crew would have to visit for some reason.

The concept of seeing the same location twice, but having it be changed, is intriguing to me. But, the storyline becomes a little more complicated, and a little less plausible this way.

This is a blast from the past.

SST_Brink: Ahh, time travel. So easy to use, so difficult to make plausible. ;)

I recommend to ColonelVogel to keep quiet about your work, since LucasArts have a history of protecting this property. Perhaps, though, as it has now been almost ten years since the game was released, they will take a more relaxed stance. I'm not really up-to-date on the current policies of LucasArts.

-JoFFa-: I think the Uru engine would work well for a Dig sequel (The Dig 3D!), and it would even support online multiplayer. Hmm...

Wow, it sure is... quiet in here. So isolate and lonely. Just like the game itself! ;)

I have never even thought about a continuation to this game. Funny to think about it, usually I always try to come up with something.

You have some nice ideas here, and right now I don't have anything to add. Just wanted to announce myself, bring some life into this place and declare that I finally got enough courage to leave the Land of the Dead for a short moment.

what I would LOVE TO SEE

a free roaming 3D 1st/3rd person experince! like myst maybe? I love myst.

Nowadays, game graphics are good enough to actually render the scenes in real-time, which would not have been possible a year or few ago.

I think it should begin where The Dig ended.
From there, there could be a problem in the alien ship and return them to Cocytus, or simply get back to earth and send more expeditions.

Yeah, a true sequel would be good. Maybe have them realise there are other islands on the planet. They could get lost on another island, find a bunker, and have to push a button every 180 minutes.

(laughs incomformtably at the fact he gets the "lost" joke)

O_o Wow, I can't believe the last post here was as recent as Oct-30-2005! I have since given up my ambitions of creating a 2d game for a 3d one, hehe.

Game Screenie (http://www.togamario.com/images/gui.jpg)

Anyway, more power to whoever thinks they can pull a sequel off. It's still one of my favorite games of all time, but wow ... those are some big shoes to fill.

Haha, nice Lost reference :D I'm fiending for the new episode next week.