Beyond Life

Beyond Life was the winning FPS Creator game entry in the 2006/2007 Game Dev Competition, hosted by The Game Creators and sponsored by NVIDIA.

Beyond Life presents a single level first person shooter game, adopting a science fiction theme. The game can be freely downloaded from the Beyond Life website

Plot
The game takes place on a space ship named the Kal-Manora, placing the user in the role of a security officer named Edward. After an initial briefing from the ships captain, Ed must clear the lower decks of stowaways and space pirates, taking orders from his brother Maximilian.

The opening loading screen displays the introductory message to Edward from his brother, Maximilian:

''Dear Edward,

How are you doing bro? Pick up that antique gun of yours because I may have some work lined up for you.

One of them old Kal class transport ships will be making a trip to planet Lufern from Thordo.The cargo is apparently very expensive so they expect a few unwelcome guests in the form of pirates.

It’s basically security duty all over again, an easy job for you my friend.

If your interested get in touch and I’ll send you all the details.Hope to see you soon.

Your loving brother,

Maximilian''

As the player progresses through the game it become apparent that Maximilian is on board the Kal-Manora for another purpose, a desire to teleport through the spatial fracture, a large radioactive anomaly which lies between planets Lufern and Thordo.

Edward must protect the ship as it progresses toward the spatial fracture, however the crew of the Kal-Manora find him partly responsible for Maximilian’s apparent suicidal venture.

Characters
The character the user plays, Edward is never seen in a third person perspective and has no written dialog. His job on the Kal-Manora is to eliminate any dangerous pirates and stowaways.
 * Edward

Edward's brother. Max gets you the job of security officer upon the vessel he is stationed on, throughout the game Max gives Edward various objectives to complete, progressing the player through the game.
 * Maximilian

Captain of the Kal-Manora, Strephon is the first character Edward meets in the game. Stephon’s first dialog invites the player to begin the game:
 * Captain Strephon

Welcome aboard Edward, I’m Captain Strephon and this is my assistant Alice. I’m sure Maxamillian will get in touch with you soon, in the mean time you can collect your weapon from the main hall, dismissed.

Joe is a security officer like Edward, Joe is keeping the upper decks clear while Edward is invited to search the lower levels.
 * Joe

S.A.M is the ships security and defence computer. Manifesting itself as a large sphere of energy, S.A.M guides Edward in the later stages of the game to the power control room.
 * S.A.M ( Shield Activation Module )

Edward's primary enemy. The Space Pirates are found hiding in the lower decks, armed and dangerous.
 * Space Pirates

Game Engine
Beyond Life is commonly criticised for its slow loading speed. This is down to the fact it was made using the original FPS Creator V1.00 which is often slow. Updates fix this but up to the current day Beyond Life is yet to be made with an updated FPSC

Publications
Beyond Life was announced as the winner of the NVIDIA sponsored 2006/2007 Game Dev Competition in issue 51 of The Game Creators monthly newsletter. An in-game screenshot of Beyond Life was also featured in issue 1 of Click Creative Magazine, the image was used to demonstrate the usage of custom media within the FPS Creator software program.