Episode Ideas

[Mike Haley]

With the encouragement of Secret Fawful, I am posting this here. Please hold back the flaming darts if a thread on this subject has already been posted, but I wanted to share some episode ideas, and would love to hear some other ideas from the community, as well.

This idea came about while chatting with SHODANFreeman on Raptr the other night: Doctor Emmett L. Brown has rebuilt and re-engineered his DeLoreon Time Vehicle. Not only can it travel through time, but now, it can travel through space, as well! In the exciting first episode of Back to the Future: The Game, Marty McFly becomes the first test subject to a new breed of time travel when he is sent back to the year 4 BC. Shortly after witnessing the birth of Christ, he is mistaken for "the Messiah," and using instruments from his own time, must perform would-be miracles for the captivated populace. Find out more when "Back to the Future: Episode 1: Christmas is Canceled" arrives this Winter!

Some of the instruments that Marty might use include: hover board to perform walking on water, or if it does not have adequate power, hover shoes from the year 2025 AD. Modern Medicine to perform the healing of a sick person (resurrecting the dead might be a bit far fetched).

I could totally see this playing into future episodes, too. Say, Marty's effects on the past cause the Church of McFly to be founded. A church which features murals of Marty and the time traveling DeLoreon. It could be a nod to the obsessive fans that treat Back to the Future as if it were a religion, or something.

Here are a few other episode titles, which may inspire a few ideas:

Episode 2: How I Swiped Thomas Jefferson's Autograph (1776 AD)
Episode 3: Roman Holiday (509 BC)
Episode 4: Post-Apocalyptic Times at Hill Valley High* (2085 AD)
Episode 5: Erasing Episode 1: Christmas is Canceled

Expanding on that Roman Holiday idea a bit: One of Marty's ancestors could be a royal adviser to the King of Rome, and who do you think would be the King? An ancestor of Biff, of course. He was so incompetent that he needed a royal adviser at his side at all times. Marty's Ancestor: "I'll have those battle plans drawn up by tomorrow morning, Sire." Biff's Ancestor: "Okay, not too early, though, I sleep in on Sunday!"

* Post-Apocalyptic Times at Hill Valley High is a nod to Fast Times at Ridgemont High, if you couldn't tell.

[jp-30]

He's gonna be 4 or so years late if he's hoping to see Jesus' birth in the year 0.

[Mike Haley]

Well, I am just going by what Doc inputted into the time circuits in the first film. I'm pretty sure that it read 0000 AD. In any case, some people would argue that Jesus Christ was not even a real person. I can sum everything up by simply saying, BTTF is pure fantasy.

Beware, the coming of the Anti-McFly is nearly upon us.

[Secret Fawful]

Great ideas, Mike. I'd definitely play it!

And maybe resurrecting of the dead could be done by having Doc pretend to be a dead person.

[doggans]

Originally Posted by Mike Haley

Well, I am just going by what Doc inputted into the time circuits in the first film. I'm pretty sure that it read 0000 AD.

There wasn't actually a 0000 AD; history goes straight from 1 BC to 1 AD. Bob Gale mentions in the movie commentary that the idea of "Dec 25 0000" is his favorite joke in the movie that nobody else laughs at.

[Trenchfoot]

Awesome idea! I can already picture it...

Marty: I'm not the Messiah! Will you please listen? I am not the Messiah, do you understand? Honestly!
Girl: Only the true Messiah denies His divinity.
Marty: What? Well, what sort of chance does that give me? All right! I am the Messiah!
Followers: He is! He is the Messiah!
Marty: Now, fuck off!
(silence)
Arthur: How shall we fuck off, O Lord?

Back to the Future: Life of Marty

(The iconic main theme plays on a church organ)

[Strayth]

I do not want to be rude, that's probably because I'm not a religious person, but I think it's horrible.

They would ruin BTTF for me ... I want it to stay "simple". Like Shadow of Memories and DOTT. You go in a time zone, future, witness trouble, try to fix things in the past, fail, try again different things etc...

I want different outcomes possible (before getting the right one that will be "canon") if you change things in the past.

But nothing involving religion... nor space.

[doggans]

Originally Posted by Trenchfoot

Awesome idea! I can already picture it...

Marty: I'm not the Messiah! Will you please listen? I am not the Messiah, do you understand? Honestly!
Girl: Only the true Messiah denies His divinity.
Marty: What? Well, what sort of chance does that give me? All right! I am the Messiah!
Followers: He is! He is the Messiah!
Marty: Now, fuck off!
(silence)
Arthur: How shall we fuck off, O Lord?

Back to the Future: Life of Marty

(The iconic main theme plays on a church organ)

At the end, do we get a Huey Lewis cover of "Always Look On The Bright Side of Life"?

[Spykes]

Originally Posted by Trenchfoot

Awesome idea! I can already picture it...

Marty: I'm not the Messiah! Will you please listen? I am not the Messiah, do you understand? Honestly!
Girl: Only the true Messiah denies His divinity.
Marty: What? Well, what sort of chance does that give me? All right! I am the Messiah!
Followers: He is! He is the Messiah!
Marty: Now, fuck off!
(silence)
Arthur: How shall we fuck off, O Lord?

Back to the Future: Life of Marty

(The iconic main theme plays on a church organ)

I can't picture Marty telling someone to "fuck off"...

Originally Posted by Strayth

I do not want to be rude, that's probably because I'm not a religious person, but I think it's horrible.

They would ruin BTTF for me ... I want it to stay "simple". Like Shadow of Memories and DOTT. You go in a time zone, future, witness trouble, try to fix things in the past, fail, try again different things etc...

I want different outcomes possible (before getting the right one that will be "canon") if you change things in the past.

But nothing involving religion... nor space.

It wouldn't ruin Back to the Future for me, but I agree that it would ruin the game if they make it heavily religious. I can't imagine them doing that though, it's so far away from what BttF is.

That said, I wouldn't be super opposed to something with space.

[Mike Haley]

Originally Posted by Strayth

I do not want to be rude, that's probably because I'm not a religious person, but I think it's horrible.

Well, believe it or not, I am not a religious person, either. I just found the concept of Marty being mistaken for a Messianic figure to be amusing. After witnessing the arrival of the DeLoreon with a bright flash of light, townspeople would be willing to instantly drop everything that they were doing before, and mindlessly follow Marty, who would constantly deny his divinity. Secret Fawful told me that a similar story played out in Monty Python's The Life of Brian. I guess that I should check that one out sometime.

I imagine something like this for the arrival: The Wise Men bestow their gifts upon Jesus. Wise Man 1: "Praise Jesus. Our Lord and Savior!" Suddenly, there is a bright flash of light, followed by the arrival of the DeLoreon. Wise Man 1: "Wait, who is that?" Wise Man 2: "HE is our Lord and Savior!" The Wise Men take back their gifts, and approach the DeLoreon just as Marty steps out.

I didn't anticipate this turning into a religious matter, though. Hopefully, we can move past that, and share some other ideas.

[Secret Fawful]

Originally Posted by Spykes

I can't picture Marty telling someone to "fuck off"...

It's a complete conversation from Monty Python's Life of Brian. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life is a famous song from that movie too. It's not serious.

[Strayth]

Well, believe it or not, I am not a religious person, either. I just found the concept of Marty being mistaken for a Messianic figure to be amusing. After witnessing the arrival of the DeLoreon with a bright flash, townspeople would be willing to instantly drop everything that they were doing before, and mindlessly follow Marty, who would constantly deny his divinity. Secret Fawful told me that a similar story played out in Monty Python's The Life of Brian. I guess that I should check that one out sometime.

You realize something is wrong with this story, right ?

People had NO IDEA what Jesus was at first. HE made miracles so they followed him.

They weren't waiting for him. They won't expect Marty to "walk on the water" ... Marty would have to willingly take Jesus' place and follow his path (that he knew from the bible) for this story to be coherent...

I believe it's too much.

Also, since it's not a shooter nor a space opera, anything involving space will obviously either be boring to death, either involve aliens. I refuse any of those two options.

Why can't we keep it to time travel ? The concept is rich enough, in my opinion.

[SHODANFreeman]

That must be why people traveled from all over to bestow gifts upon a random baby for no reason. Seriously though, lighten up, dude. This is just a thread for fun ideas they could do with the new game. No need to take it all so seriously.

[Mike Haley]

Originally Posted by Strayth

You realize something is wrong with this story, right ?

Mmmkay. I didn't come here to nitpick with people. This is why I don't post around these parts very often anymore.

Originally Posted by Strayth

Also, since it's not a shooter nor a space opera, anything involving space will obviously either be boring to death, either involve aliens. I refuse any of those two options.

When I said time and space, I meant that the DeLoreon can now jump from, say, Hill Valley to Rome, not travel through outer space. I realized that it would be impossible for Marty and Doc to witness the birth of Christ, or the signing of the The Declaration of Independence without this.

Jesus Christ, Doc, you disintegrated Einstein this thread.

[Spykes]

Originally Posted by Secret Fawful

It's a complete conversation from Monty Python's Life of Brian. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life is a famous song from that movie too. It's not serious.

Ah. I'm like the one nerd on the face of the earth who's not a Python fan.

[Secret Fawful]

Don't sweat it; I wasn't for a long time either, I only recently got into it. I know plenty of people who've never seen the movies either, but yeah, I just wanted to clarify.

Oh, and this topic reminds me of this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJKye7J3-54

[SHODANFreeman]

I hope that while time traveling, they encounter some mariachis singing a birthday song.

[Mike Haley]

Oh! That gives me another idea, and one that, hopefully, fewer people will debate. Okay, Back to the Future Part II showed us that alternate realities can exist within the Back to the Future universe, and that they can also be undone. What if the overarching plot of the game focused on an evil time traveler (similar to the evil leaper from Quantum Leap) who was fu-screwing things up all throughout history. This is where Marty and Doc come in. Using the DeLoreon, they must go back, find out what went wrong, and attempt to preserve the timeline. I think that this would work well for A game, anyway.

Fleshing this idea out a little, let us say that the evil time traveler somehow managed to change the outcome of historical battles (Battle of Waterloo, American Civil War, World War I/II?), and/or stole important artifacts (The Declaration of Independence, Duke Nukem Forever, Doc's Flux Capacitor Blueprints?). It would be up to Marty and Doc to piece together the clues, retrieve missing items (if there are any), and return them to their respective time periods. A bit on the educational side, sure, but I like it. Plus, I played the Carmen Sandiego games a lot as a kid. Those were technically adventure games, right? Perhaps Day of the Tentacle would be a better example. 1/3 of that game took place in Colonial America, and at least a few puzzles revolved around knowing a thing or two about Benjamin Franklin and George Washington.

I can see how the ideas that I have presented here would be a challenge for most any other medium, though, but that is beside the point. I created this thread just for fun, and I still welcome other episode ideas (if anyone may have any).

[crazy fan bttf]

Hi everyone! I am very glad that this happened and am glad that this project gave the telltale games!
I would like to offer their ideas for games:
1) Realistic graphics in gta4, mafia2, crysis or better! : D
2) Genre: Action (3rd Person) / Racing / Adventure
3) Story: The game follows the plot of three films and then will be released by DLS plots comics or cartoons or ...
4) characters in the game as all the actors in the film
5) Well, you probably understand that the music also plays a big role ...



PS - Thank you! Forgive me for my English, I translated the text into Google! LOL: D

[markeres]

I'm kind of surprised this topic hasn't been revived, since we know so much more info about the game since the last post. Anyway...

I think one of the episodes may revolve around Marty's fateful first meeting with Doc, and it being prevented somehow. Then, Marty has to make sure that he and Doc meet and become friends. Kind of a twist on the plot of the first movie, but about one of the most monumental events in BTTF mythology. Telltale has said they want to use the game to explore some of the things fans have always wanted to know about the BTTF characters, and I can't think of anything I'd want to know about more than how Marty and Doc met.