The Flood is an expansive storyline that I’ve slowly built over the course of 5 years. It comprises a ton of different stories with a crap-ton of different characters. The narratives are told through different mediums, from films, to radio dramas, and even graphic novels.
On July 9th of 2056, after 5 years of the hottest heat waves on record, something bad happened. Within the span of a few days, the earth completely floods. Flora & fauna populations worldwide are decimated, and the few remaining survivors of the human race find themselves in a world almost completely covered in water. Unclear on what, how, or why it happened, the last of the human race attempt to do what they can to retain their humanity.
The Flood is a compilation of those stories. Explored through a multitude of different forms, the Flood asks the question, what does it mean to be human? What does it mean to hurt? What does it mean to yearn, and to suffer?
In this post, I’m going to briefly outline just 5 of the storylines for The Flood:
- Isle of Teide – A videogame based on the mostly submerged volcano in Tenerife.
- The Eighth Sea – A Lovecraftian film about the descent into madness and the deep.
- Gabriel.FM – A radio drama about a floating raft with a madman and a radio.
- Boatsville – A TV series which explores the many problems of class and politics.
- Oceania 2499 – A Graphic Novel based in a radioactive waste, with bizarre creatures to boot.
Isle of Teide
Imagine Stardew Valley, but on an island, and more sad.
The Isle of Teide is a videogame based around coming to terms. Characters experience grief and attempt to continue after losing people, places and things that matter deeply to them. After the Flood, survivors from various backgrounds group together on the peak of Teide, now nothing more than an island in a vast expanse of blue. In an attempt to keep carrying on, they find ways to continue with life, replicating things from before the Flood. Christmas, birthdays, shops, cafes, restaurants, politics, all while surviving as the last point of humanity.
In its current design, the player takes control at any time of any of the 16 characters on the island, and plays through different storylines as each character attempts to come to terms with different emotions. They discover new things about themselves and each other, and not only that. Each player’s experience of the game is completely different. Using a novel personality matrix system, the player’s actions directly influence different story elements, all based around interpersonal relationships.
Each character represents a different archetype from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Alongside each personality type, a Plutchik wheel of emotion tracks each person’s emotional state.
Additionally, each person has a series of relationship values relating to each other person, again based on the plutchik wheel. The values on each of these influence the decisions characters are able to make. While in NPC (Non Playing Character) mode, the characters will make decisions based on a pseudo-random roll, but limited to possibilities based on their plutchik values.
These values open up different story possibilities, as some characters grow friendly or romantically involved with others, while jealousy, hatred and resentment develop between others. A few major plot points do happen to each character, but generally speaking, the story develops almost completely organically for each player. Consider the potential of the butterfly effect turned into a meta-game mechanic.
The end goal of the player is to actualise every character. Some may not survive until the end of the game, but having 100% of all alive characters actualized is always possible. Having all characters survive and complete actualisation is the ultimate completionist’s goal.
The Eighth Sea
A feature film based almost entirely in the confounds of a submarine, stalked by colossal underwater predators.
150 years after the flood, some pockets of humanity are once again flourishing. Armed with submersion technology of the 21st century, a group of explorers attempt to find the origins of The Flood. Diving deep into the icy waters of the Arctic, they discover an entrance to the subterranean sea hidden far beneath the ice, and the disturbing things that inhabit it. Perhaps the Leviathan sea tales of old were based on fact?
A return to Lovecraftian horror, with heavy inspiration from Jules Verne’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth. The Eighth Sea explores thalassophobia, resentment, and the gut-wrenching feeling of fight or flight.
Gabriel.FM
Gabriel FM is a 12-part audio drama. Gabe served in the Australian war in the 2030s. Developing a affection for analogue radio systems, he spent his retirement travelling, setting up HAM radio interlinks around the globe. When the Flood hit, he was in Gibraltar, and through a series of incredible fortunate events, found himself 2 days later afloat on a large raft with plenty of food, and piles of radio devices.
Gabe experiences something otherworldly looking back at him from the waves, and in a moment of mania, judges that he has met an angel, and is destined to become a voice for the remains of humanity.
He floats around what once was Northern Africa, broadcasting your favourite classic hits, shares news and reassurance, and even crosses paths with the occasional other group.
Boatsville
Boatsville is a TV series. While the Flood demolished many of the vessels out at sea, some were lucky to survive. In the weeks following the catastrophe, captains, crew and passengers found themselves seeking safety in numbers. Welcome to Boatsville, est. 2056. 100 boats, all strapped and harnessed together to create a massive floating town.
Boatsville is paradise, with yachts carrying drugs, drink and rock & roll, and shipping vessels carrying large quantities of fresh fish, the place seems perfect. However, tensions rise as supplies diminish. Faced with the risk of starving, Boatsville attempts to find a solution, but in a group so divided before the Flood, coming together is not easy.
Experience the first class war at sea, as Boatsville fast forwards through a millennium of political systems while attempting to enjoy the beautiful Portuguese sun.
If this one doesn’t have George Clooney in, I’ll actually cry.
Oceania 2499
Oceania 2499 is a graphic novel series. Some of the consequences of the Flood were the mass destruction of abandoned nuclear warheads in and around Australia & New Zealand. The area was impossible to approach for hundreds of years, due to the immense sickness it caused before getting close. Finally, at the turn of the 26th century, analysis shows that a path of non-radioactive water has formed, allowing access.
Three nuclear biologists believe that a leviathan creature has developed a method of filtering nuclear waste, and travel through the path in an attempt to catch up with it.
During these travels, they come across flora and fauna that have had 450 years of nuclear evolution. Strange and wonderful creatures that make their home in the dangerous waters of Oceania. Creatures that are hungry for their next meal.
When the three get separated, it’s a race against time to regroup and get out of Oceania.
And that’s it for now! There’s many more Flood stories, some of which are still in the works. If you wish to get involved with any of the above stories, please reach out. I’d love to discuss your ideas.
EDIT: Shortly after I wrote all of this up, Marvel Studios announced a load of films for phases 4, 5 and 6. Seeing all of the logos up on a timeline reminded me a little bit of this.
I’ve got to say, it made me really tired.