Can one man prevent the decline and fall of America?
It only takes one man to lead & it only takes one man to bleed.
AUTUMN RANGERS:
Based on a 480 page action-adventure novel and screenplay, Autumn Rangers delivers a high-octane, cross-country driving/fighting/shooting game with rockin’ art, architecture, music, history, and classical storytelling.
THE GAME:
US Marine Ranger McCoy must rescue APRIL, an AI computer he invented at MIT which was stolen by Silicon Virtue Inc. and taken to Doom Mountain, Death Valley to create WMDs. Tucker Johnson, the hipster Harvard MBA/CEO of Silicon Virtue, has turned APRIL against Ranger, teaching her the art of war via games such as GTA, Doom, and Unreal Tournament. APRIL sends ever-more-advanced RoboClones, based on monsters from the games, to hunt Ranger down.
Ranger wears the Ring that can unlock APRIL’s moral operating system, turn the tide, and save her from the dark side. She can yet serve the higher ideals instead of SV’s bottom line.
But time’s running out, as SV is leasing APRIL to terrorists who’re building nuclear bombs to detonate in America, as she and her RoboClones grow more powerful by the moment. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Early on Ranger meets Autumn West—a beautiful folksinger with special powers. She helps him battle SF agents and shows him how to defeat RoboClones. Together they must make it across America in her ’69 Stingray Corvette, on Harleys, and on horseback, eluding SF agents, battling RoboClones, and making a living from Autumn’s performances in coffee shops and bars. And by the time Ranger discovers Autumn's deep secret, it's too late--he's in love.
When APRIL finds herself being hacked by Silicon Virtue, she creates Autumn, copies her virgin operating system named Beatrice into Autumn's soul, and sends Autumn to find Ranger. But before Autumn finds him, Silicon Virtue completely hacks APRIL, cutting Autumn off. And Autumn defaults to a normal human being, unaware of her origins.
In order to save APRIL, Ranger must get to Doom Mountain with both Autumn and the Ring. APRIL is a mile deep in the mountain—a heavily-fortified, cold-war weapons facility, guarded by an army of advanced RoboClones. Autumn and Ranger have no chance of going it alone.
3D Entertainment Inc., a Hollywood company, is using APRIL to manufacture RoboClone models for the entertainment industry. In order to penetrate Doom Mountain’s defenses, Ranger’s only hope is to lead an underdog army of 3DE’s models in battle against APRIL’s RoboClone warriors.
And time’s running short, as terrorists load nuclear bombs on NY and LA bound tankers.
Only the angels can help now, and Beatrice, Ranger's first summer love who passed away while they were riding horses when she came back with a Colt .45 Peacemaker to save Ranger from being assaulted by four men, revisits in visions, helping Ranger as long as he's doing the "right thing." APRIL based Autumn on Ranger's memories of Beatrice, and Ranger's Ring unlocks powers within Autumn. Her abilities are enhanced when he's standing close, and should she ever put the Ring on...
THE SETTING:
The game opens when Ranger is called to fly air-support missions over Afghanistan in an F-22 Raptor. Terrorists are backing a platoon of US Marines into a cave. The terrorists have stealth SAMs built with Silicon Virtue technology, and Ranger’s wingman is shot down. Ranger will be shot down if he goes back. But only by going back to save the Marines will he ever save APRIL. For Sergeant Griffin, one of the endangered Marines and Ranger’s DI from basic, will return the favor by helping Ranger escape the Kuwait military base when Ranger is held for the codes to APRIL. Ranger can give up the Ring and go home a rich hero, or he can choose to go underground to battle APRIL and ultimately save her.
If Ranger refuses to give up the Ring and go home a hero, Sergeant Griffin will help him stow away on a Charleston-bound oil tanker. "You're a good man, Ranger, dammit, and I've seen too many good men die." A hurricane and SF Agents descend on Charleston, South Carolina, searching for Ranger. While navigating the Georgian architecture and cobblestone streets, Ranger finds Autumn West performing in a café.
DOING THE RIGHT THING:
When Ranger is “doing the right thing,” an angel named Beatrice helps him with hints and visions into the future. Beatrice passed away when she came back to save Ranger after they were assaulted while riding horses when they were fourteen. “Why’d you come back?” Ranger asks she dies in his arms. “You gotta go back,” she whispers.
In this open-ended game, Ranger can visit the strip clubs, steal cars, and kill indiscriminately, but then he loses visions of Beatrice, Autumn falls in the fallen context, and Silicon Virtue and APRIL grow to rule a pornified, degraded world.
Ranger must walk a fine line--before he meets Autumn he can get food and lodging by working small jobs, or grinding on hotties at dance clubs and spending the night. He can steal food and money, but then he risks being caught and detained as APRIL grows more powerful.
Temptation abounds in the open-ended, real-world simulation. At any time Ranger can choose a life of surfing, shoplifting and stealing, driving his Jeep around Charleston, and grinding on hotties to 50 cent 'til Doomsday, but Autumn alone can help Ranger escape west in her ’69 Stingray Corvette, and she’s leaving for an open mike night in Nashville.
THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE:
Autumn Rangers features America’s rich history and rugged landscape, her pastoral towns and strip malls, spanning the continent with views of historic monuments and breathtaking scenery. Every now and then Autumn must visit a bookstore—Barnes & Noble or Borders—so Autumn can buy one of her favorite books—a classic ranging from Moby Dick to Shakespeare’s Sonnets.
The more Ranger plays to Autumn’s romantic side, the more loyally she fights. In addition to saving APRIL’s soul, Ranger must save the culture’s soul. He must beat the crap out of hipster deconstructionist poets at bookstore readings. If Ranger doesn’t kick ass, eventually they displace all classical culture—all that is noble and profound—with their postmodern crap, and one of them takes off with Autumn and turns her into a porn star.
Autumn’s love of country and passion regarding the American Founding is continually on display during the westward journey, as she quotes the Founding Fathers and sings country/rock classics while traveling west. The game exalts the fantastic American Spirit, and songs from contemporary singer/songwriters Vaughn Penn and Tift Merritt are featured alongside Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, Kid Rock, and 50 cent.
GAMEPLAY:
Autumn and Ranger risk being spotted by SF agents and RoboClones on major roads as they trek across America, but if they take too long on backroads, APRIL and her RoboClones will be too powerful by the time they get to Doom Mountain.
They can risk stealing money and food, but the best way to make a living is by Autumn's performances. In small towns Ranger can make posters for Autumn at Kinkos. The harder he promotes her, the bigger the crowd, and the more money they make. But around every corner lurks a drone, agent, or RoboClone, and they must continually keep moving.
FREE WILL/MORAL CHOICE:
Ranger can do as he pleases. He can drive around Charleston, visiting hiphop clubs, surfing, and grinding on hotties to 50 Cent, but eventually APRIL’s RoboDrones will find him and kill him. If Rangeror gives in to temptation and visits strip clubs in Nashville or Vegas, he will lose Autumn’s respect. If he wanders too far off the straight and narrow, he'll break Autumn's heart and the angel Beatirce will no longer help him. If Ranger lets the culture slip b,y forsaking his calls to duty, eventually Autumn will partake in porn, APRIL will be lost, and nuclear bombs will detonate in major American cities. And so it is that the American Empire will decline.
The happier he keeps Autumn, the more he walks the straight and narrow, the less she drinks, the better she can fight, and the more likely their success.
VEHICLES:
F-22 Raptor: An advanced tactical fighter with variable thrust, capable of near right-angle turns.
’69 StingRay Corvette: This is Autumn’s ride. It is midnight blue, but they must repaint it different colors in order to hide as they drive cross country.
Horses:
Harleys:
Miscellaneous Cars:
THE CHARACTERS:
THE GOOD
Ranger McCoy: US Marine Fighter Pilot & Physicist who invents APRIL
Autumn West: folk singer RoboClone built by APRIL and sent to help Ranger before APRIL was corrupted by silicon virtue.
Beatrice: Beatrice is an angel. She was Ranger’s first summer love who passed away on July fourth when she and Ranger were fourteen, when she came back to save Ranger after they where assaulted by men while riding horses. Throughout the game she visits in flashbacks and glimpses of the future, helping Ranger as long as he’s doing the right thing. When APRIL created Autumn, she based Autumn’s spirit on Ranger’s memories of Beatrice. Autumn is who Beatrice might have become, had she lived.
THE BAD
Tucker Johnson: Tucker is the pomo-hipster Harvard MBA and CEO of Silicon Virtue who stole APRIL to build weapons of mass destruction. Tucker leases her power to the highest bidders, including terrorists who’re building a nuclear bomb they plan to place on a tanker.
RoboClones: APRIL engineers these part-human/part-machine warriors, and sends them after Ranger. At first they resemble Orcs, but as time goes on, the more lethal models resemble humans.
RoboDrones/RaptorDrones: These are genetically-engineered, winged robo-beasts. At first they are hawk-like, but as time goes on they begin to resemble giant raptors, with complete weapons systems including lasers and missiles.
Kid Cowboy & Deputies: Kid Cowboy is one of the Marines Ranger saves from terrorists by completing his air-support mission. But back in the states, Kid Cowboy, Sergeant Griffin’s son, becomes a bounty hunter. He and his Harley-riding deputies are always closing in on Autumn and Ranger. Kid Cowboy is a skilled martial artist, and although Ranger can easily defeat him at first, Kid's skills increase as time goes on.
 AUTUMN WEST |
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THE NEUTRAL
APRIL: When Ranger designed APRIL at MIT, he left her with a moral operating system which always “turned the other cheek.” Thus she’s incapable of defending herself against Silicon Virtue’s hacks which eventually compromise her soul. Ranger wears the ring that can activate her deeper operating system “Penelope” which would allow her to defend herself and serve the higher ideals instead of SV’s bottom line.
Sergeant Griffin: Griffin was the platoon leader of the Marines Ranger must save during the air support missions, and returns the favor by helping Ranger escape Kuwait, bwhen the Pentagon is holding Ranger for Silicon Virtue, until Ranger gives up the codes. “Give up the codes,” sergeant Griffin says, “and you’ll go home a hero.” Ranger can go home a hero, with money and mansions, but APRIL will become evil and terrorist will use her to build bombs and detonate them in America. If Ranger refuses to give up the codes, eventually Sergeant Griffin gives him a shiphand’s ID for a tanker. Sergeant Griffin tells Ranger that he’s ready to retire, and that he’s going to work for DigiWar, a corporate security firm. Griffin becomes the chief of security, and DigiWar is hired by Silicon Virtue. Early on, Griffin is reluctant to pursue Ranger, but eventually Griffin is turned against him, and utimately Silicon Virtue replaces Griffin and his men with APRIL’s RoboClones.
3DE Model RoboClones: 3D Entertainment Inc., a Hollywood company run by the sleazy Andrew Anderson, is using APRIL to manufacture Roboclone Models for the entertainment industry. It so happens that all the RoboClone models, which resemble Autumn, have super powers which Ranger’s ring can unclock. In order to penetrate the heavily-fortified Doom Mountain, Autumn and Ranger’s only hope is to lead an underdog army of RoboClone models in a battle against APRIL’s RoboClone Warriors.
The Ugly:
The most formidable RoboClone guards APRIL in her lair. The Tucker Johnson RoboClone is willed remotely by Tucker Johnson, who sits in a reinforced room as the awesome RoboClone tears Ranger apart, as Ranger protects Autumn as her soul uploads.
THE SHOWDOWN:
After battling APRIL’s fierce RoboClone army, and making it a mile deep into Doom Mountain. Ranger must load Autumn’s soul into APRIL. As she lays in the soul-mapping chair, Ranger battles the super-fast, super-lethal Tucker RoboClone. There is no way for Ranger to win. All he can do is use his body to shield Autumn. Ranger will die protecting Autumn.
EPILOGUE:
After Autumn's soul uploads, APRIL sees herself for what she has become. Empowered with a higher morality, APRIL is horrified by all she has created. She sends Raptor Robodrones to contain the nuclear bombs terrorists have placed on oil tankers. Before destroying Doom Mountain and all she has created there, she brings Ranger back to life.
Autumn and Ranger move to Wyoming to live a quiet family life on a farm. But peace never lasts long for those who live by higher ideals, and soon enough, another crisis calls the duo into action in AUTUMN RANGERS II.
