In the "Introduction to Creative Writing" lecture course that I teach, we included a section on video game writing. One of my TAs (John Mavin) ran a contest in which undergraduate students submitted video game scripts. John coded the winning script--"Cascadia"--and we projected it in the lecture hall in the last days of class.

Cascadia
by Derek Walter
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CrWr202
Video Game Design Contest
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In the year 2010, the world went to hell. A month before the onset of the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, the United States' economy failed. Mass riots broke out all over America as furious citizens attempted to rescue their life savings from banks which had lost everything. Shops were looted, homes were invaded, people were brutally killed, and the American dollar became worthless in the world market. Almost overnight, the USA became a land of anarchy. Police were overwhelmed by armed mobs, and the population turned out a larger arsenal of weapons than the US military could even muster. After a week of intense fighting, the President was forced to flee the country. Soon after, states began breaking off and forming their own smaller countries.

Within Canada, the situation wasn't much better. Quebec separated along with the maritime provinces and joined in forming the country of Quebec-Acadia. The central provinces banded together and attempted to weather the storm, however the government was fast losing popularity. In the west, British Columbia, the Yukon, Alaska, Washington State, Oregon, and California quickly formed a pact to create the nation of Cascadia. This nation formed barriers against every territory to the east, and vowed to remain a place of order among the chaos. All plans however, are not foolproof, and Cascadia found itself faced with imminent attack from the Sovereign States of Southern America.

It is now the year 2012. War has been raging for nearly two years. Cascadia and the SSSA have gained and lost territory and lives on either side. Cascadia however, is close to completing a weapon that could bring the end to the entire conflict. In order to create weapons for the military, resources and equipment need to be procured. The Cascadian Defence Force created special operations teams with the sole purpose of acquiring these materials. Trained in both combat and other specialities, the teams are trained to enter an area via helicopter, perform a quick strike and retrieval of information or equipment and then retreat before the enemy knows what happened.

(Music: La Roux, "In for the Kill") (less info)