Median is a multiplayer online game intended for PCs, currently being designed as an exercise in writing and design structure rather than for development. The game places a focus on personalised professions and detailed avatar customisation.

Overview

Median is a raygun gothic (retrofuture)-themed online world in which players step up to a cosmic fronier of glory and peril.

Mankind has recently joined the galactic community of space-faring races. Humans displaced by natural distasters on Earth took to trading with these new partners, but all races regarding each other with suspicion.

Recent intelligence reports have complicated matters, describing the mysterious loss of ships, personnel and whole colonies posted near the galactic median. Whilst life must go on as normal for this fragile galaxy, there are whispers that independent volunteers from all home worlds are being called to aid investigations into this mysterious threat.

Players create a personalised character from one of the 5 galactic races and set out on a journey to adopt a trade, claim bounties and generally assist intheir species' efforts in the cosmos. They will receive the call to travel beyond their solar system, and so begin the unravelling of this mystery from the galaxy's centre.

Players are encouraged to ply their trade for profit and personalisation. Unique combinations of materials from playable worlds can lend their gear items a very personal touch. The ambitious can challenge themselves on untamed worlds to earn Feats of Glory, while social players may team up to combat fierce alien menaces, ingratiating themselves with the otherplayable races as they do so. Binding this all is an online identity they can share easily with friends and the player community - in Median, every space-faring explorer has a story of their own to tell.

Deliverables

• Summary design document, detailing the world mechanics and a selection of mission designs.
• Selected atlas of the worlds and cities in Median.

Maps

Most of the work I'm producing to illustrate the Median universe is work-in-progress, being shown at the Cartographers' Guild.