https://vipvgm.net 20 years after a nuclear war turned desolate the once-green Earth, mankind refused to go gentle into that good night. The resulting nuclear winter was survived and global temperatures were stabilizing. In a desperate attempt to reform civilization, the ramshackled and destitute masses gathered. Societies re-emerged, forming identities far removed from those prior to the war. (It was taking too long for the world to initiate a nuclear war, so I had to do one myself.) (This is a synthwave update.) Code: Cyberpunk 2077 - Reaktion Cyberpunk 2077 - Kill the Messenger Cyberpunk 2077 - The Rebel Path Cyberpunk 2077 - Antagonistic By using scraps of advanced materials from the surrounding ruins, one such society, led by a group of talented scientists and engineers, gradually developed a way to harness nuclear power. With power comes industry, then technology, then control. While machinery and robotics endured much of the hard labor of developing structure and infrastructure, people flocked to be integrated into this burgeoning society. The society soon became a megacity, the first of its kind on this new Earth. Thus, the Technocracy of New Davenport was born. (Can't have a cyberpunk update without Cyberpunk 2077, which I still haven't played. I heard it's pretty stable now. They even made an anime for some reason, directed by Imaishi of Gurren Lagann and Kill la Kill fame. Anyway, two of these tracks aren't really synthwave, but whatever. The game's music is absolutely amazing. Though, the most annoying thing about it is that there's so many OSTs being released at different times. It's as if it was an MMORPG with content updates coming out every few months.) Code: Wave Break - Crystal Waves Wave Break - Aiming High Wave Break - Star Runner New Davenport was surrounded by walls protecting its citizens from the hostile outside world. It had a brutal yet fair justice system to protect its citizens from themselves. The technocrats used a vast fleet of armed drones not only to keep the peace, but to coerce the surrounding regions to agree to outrageous trades for raw materials that the city needed in order to sustain its rapid growth. Life was relatively calm within the walls. (Wave Break is literally Tony Hawk's Boat Skater with furries.) Code: Operation Smash - Forest Ruins, Pt. Two Operation Smash - Inside the Crater Operation Smash - The Machinery, Pt. Two Detoxifying the contaminated waters of the ever-flowing Mississippi river proved to be challenging and expensive, due to the scarcity of clean filters. Purified water was utilized in a variety of ways from cooling the nuclear reactors to cultivating the crops. Rain was still a rare occurrence since the war. As a result, there was no other choice but to strictly ration potable water for the general population. (I have no clue what Operation Smash is, other than it looks like yet another indie platformer with surprisingly good music.) Code: Slipstream - Driving A Dream (nice story) Slipstream - Neon Delivery (pizza img) Slipstream - Final Pass FM Cover - Extent of the Jam New Davenport had a predominant form of entertainment that provided endless and unpredictable possibilities. Since travelling beyond the walls was prohibited and physical luxury was rare, the technocrats turned to virtual reality as the most effective solution to assuage the masses. The citizens subsequently lived virtual lives. The New Davenport Metaverse became the quintessential pillar of society. (Remember those 90s racing games? Yeah, I never did like those cash gobblers. Slipstream aimed to emulate those frustrations.) Code: Zillion - ErichWK - Pure Stone Body F1 Grand Prix Star II - T-SQUARE - Truth Aerannis - Planina Tower (posttrip) Iridion 3D - Dogfight Above The Pacific Ocean [Stage 2] Battlepoint.io - Showdown 2064: Read Only Memories - Scrubbing For Clues Always and ever online, people of every circle spent their hard-earned dollar and available time to be whoever they wanted and travel to wherever and whenever they wanted. Optional peripherals enabled people to feel all the sensations of the virtual world without negatively affecting their physical bodies. The metaverse was their escape from the physical hellscape. (Here's a random bunch of single tracks. The ones that stand out are Zillion, whatever that is; and F1 Grand Prix Star II, composed by T-Square, one of my all-time favorite Japanese bands. I've recently found out they've made a few contributions to VGM, so look forward to that in a future update.) Code: Spectrum Break - Lost Spectrum Break - Drive The masses were content. That is, until the Freedom Fighters, those who were dissatisfied with the technocrats' governance, emerged. This group of revolutionaries believed there were enough resources to construct additional water treatment plants. They insinuated that the technocrats purposefully rationed the water supply to keep the masses in line and corruptible, to keep control. (Spectrum Break is yet another yet another indie platformer, but this one has colorful neon blocks!) Code: 198X - Beating Heart: The Final Fight 198X - Out of the Void: Stage 1-1 The Freedom Fighters also despised the idea of the metaverse. They saw it as yet another tool for control, claiming the technocrats disproportionately focused their efforts on further development of the metaverse and ignored the substantive needs of the people. There was an air of awareness that the excessive amounts of microtransactions and predatory practices were ruining a people who were once saved from ruin. Those people would no sooner embark on a vain quest to find God in their own digital Paradise of fools. (198X is a super-nostalgic story about growing up in the 80s. It's got some classic arcade mini-games. It's also just an hour long.) Code: Furi - A Monster Furi - Wisdom of Rage Furi - You're Mine The New Davenport Metaverse had absolute control of the common people. However, hackers found a vulnerability and were one day able to shut the servers down temporarily. It didn't have to be permanent, just enough time for people to realize their universe wasn't real. When the system is broken, the slaves to it revolt. And so, mobs of angry people rioted in the streets. The near-perfect society was crumbling. As peace was certainly no longer an option, drones were dispatched and much blood was unfortunately shed. Amidst the turmoil, the Freedom Fighters assaulted the central tower, where the technocrats conducted their affairs. (It's Furi, that game everyone used to talk about, starring Waveshaper, one of my favorite synthwave artists.) Code: 404Sight - Tutorial 404Sight - End to End Unbeknownst to the revolutionaries, the technocrats secretly held a stockpile of nuclear warheads unused and intact, for the purpose of intimidating those societies beyond the city walls. There was never a single thought to set them off within the walls, against everything they've built. Nevertheless, in their last stand, the technocrats threatened to arm the warheads. The revolutionaries attempted to charge at them before the switch was flipped. Did they think they had a chance? Or maybe they thought it was a bluff. Or perhaps they were intoxicated with the rush of the moment. In any case, their futile attempt failed and the warheads were armed. The countdown to oblivion had begun. (Here's 404Sight, some kind of parkour running game.) Code: Death Stranding - Mono Memory - Main Theme Death Stranding - BB's Theme Death Stranding - Car Go Fast Death Stranding - Over the Threshold And thus, in a monstrous mushroom cloud of shattered dreams, the Technocracy of New Davenport was obliterated. No trace was left of this once remarkable city, no rage against the dying of the light. Its moments, its memories, and its metaverse are forever lost in past time. (Ah, Death Stranding, purported to be the greatest walking simulator ever created. The music is depressing for the most part, but it's top-notch. I felt the same vibes from the Oblivion movie OST.) Code: art of rally - The Perfect Corner art of rally - Neon art of rally - Leap art of rally - Will I See You Again? What an absolute shame. - These are excerpts from a soiled journal that was found in a small cave a few miles away from the New Davenport blast site. Beside the journal was a maggot-ridden body and a pistol. The author's identity remains unknown. (Art of Rally has an unbelievably good OST. It was super hard getting it down to just 4 tracks. If you're into this music, I recommend the entire OST. Sadly, it's the only game OST the artist has made so far.)
Still can't believe I wrote a whole-ass story for this update. It's the first one I've released to the public since I was a child.
It was a pretty fun read. Still gotta say. I'm glad you still update and host these forums and the players. Thanks
I'm glad y'all enjoyed it. I won't stop updating until I hear my last note. I actually did some research for the story, from likely nuclear targets to the effects of nuclear winter to how nuclear power works. I chose Davenport, Iowa, because (1) it's a small city that's less likely to be targeted, (2) it's next to the largest river in the US, (3) coastal cities would've been completely irradiated, and (4) it's close to a bunch of nuclear power plants, so there will be thousands of people who live nearby and work in such plants. I imagine dozens of those people survive, get together, and decide to build a makeshift nuclear power plant. There are some other cities I could've chosen, but Davenport sounds the coolest.
