Jumbled Thoughts

Been thinking about our project again and thought I'd better get these thoughts down.

Things to consider for our game

Story:
At this point it's hard to know what is important and what isn't.  We need to be working and thinking about this project as if the game will be fully developed.  The story is a really important factor in this and will be crucial for the cinematic.

I am considering the cinematic as a condensed version of a completed story, or at least the backstory of the world or characters we will be creating.  There must be an element of storytelling within the cinematic, no matter how beautiful it is otherwise.  Just like a film, or a game gorgeous graphics and animation doesn't make something good.  Telling this story and as well as eluding to it within the limitations of a game cinematic will be the challenge.  I feel that even if we are not creating the playable portion of the game it is important to understand where it is going, as well as any crucial events which would be happening in the future of this story.

Things to consider are the history and story of both the characters and the world in which they live.  While histories do not need to be complete and complex, they need to be fleshed out. 

It is also important to consider the role of a player within this world, and this will be affected by the type of game and gameplay mechanics.  If the player is controlling a character within this world how important is this character?  Is it the characters own story which drives the game or are they simply a vessel by which the player can explore the world- with more focus on the stories of this world and the other inhabitants of it?

 Gameplay:
 Because we are not creating a playable game the actual mechanics of the gameplay pale in importance next to other factors.  It is still important to consider what type of game this would be, whether it be a RPG, first person shooter, side scroller, or whatever.  I think the type of gameplay should reflect the story.  The type of game will most likely be reflected within the cinematic.

Setting and Style:
The setting will obviously be affected by the story or vice-versa.  Depending on what concepts we come up with creating a world which is either complete fantasy or one that is like our world but different would offer us the most creative freedom.  The 'almost our world' concept would probably work well for stories which explore a hidden flipside to our world, eg supernatural entities existing within the modern world.  Also would work for stories exploring history or futures within our world eg. post-apocalyptic, and would reference real-world locations.  Could be seen as a type of parallel world to our own.

What to do:
At this point we don't have any clear objectives or ideas to be working with- after all it is still the first week.  With this in mind the best things I can be doing for the project at this stage are to continue practicing with the technical side of things and let my brain stir up some concept ideas in the meantime.  It seems I've reach the end of my train of thought, which probably means I should read though all this blah to figure out what on earth I have been talking about!