Startgame (no ontology)
From Mazeworld
The Startgame is the name given to the beginning of a contestant's journey in Mazeworld, where they wake up and find out why they are in the Mazes. In a more meta sense, it is the early-game period during which players are setting up and customizing their starting gear.
On August 16th 2015, a new Startgame has been designed in order to be tested by the players. It has been officially implemented on August 26th 2015.
In-universe
The Startgame is the period during which the Contestant awakens, disoriented and with the impression that their death in their homeworld was a bad dream. The Contestant finds himself/herself inside of a hospital bedroom, naked and without any of their belongings from their previous life. They are woken up via television monitor by a medic, who then proceeds to ask a variety of questions to the Contestant, ranging from superficial questions about their physical appearance, questions about physical aptitude, combat skills, mental and psychological background, and so on, all of which serve to inform the medic about the Contestant's nature and confirm his or her good health.
The Contestant is then tasked to spend points into starting equipment, which the medic then delivers in order to ask a few questions in person, such as "Do you remember how you died?".
Afterwards, and once the Contestant has dressed and geared themselves up, they may ask questions on their own, to which the medic will attempt replying to the best of his abilities. The Contestant will then learn that they are in the town of Arnett, inside of a biotech lab facility, and that the first thing they should try is visiting the town before leaving for the UA.
Meta
Through the questions asked by the medic, the players may determine and create their Contestant from the ground up, starting with basic information such as name, age, gender, species, then with more precise questions about physical appearance, before moving on to the point-spend systems. The first allows allocating points to define primary Statistics. The second then allows allocating points into weapon skills, which will later determine starting weapons. The third and last allows allocating points into equipment (clothing and armor, load-bearing equipment, then weapons depending on the skills selected beforehand).
Once equipment has been selected, the medic will then show up to deliver the chosen gear to the Contestant, in person, then will proceed to ask questions about the Contestant's mental and psychological background, and whether or not he/she remembers about their cause of death. Currently, the psych questions have no effect, but a future update will give them purpose.
