Centralis

FF8: Centralis was the original HMP LARP project started in 2004. Following up from the characters and events of Final Fantasy 8, and consisting of a wide array of event formats, it was a testing ground for many techniques which would carry over into later projects.

Storyline
Centralis picks up five years after the conclusion of FF8. Squall Leonhart has become an instructor at Balamb Garden along with Irvine Kinneas. In typical SeeD fashion, they are sent on a variety of difficult missions, often being tortured or fighting their way out against impossible odds. They are joined by many of their old allies, as well as Dakin Deshane, a tracker and scout trained at Balamb who rescued the rest from Galbadian militants.
 * Background

Meanwhile, in Centra, the southern most continent, the dispossessed soldiers and scattered nomads were coming together under new leadership. This new nation promised to give their people a nation to be proud of, and to crush those that had done them wrong. They begin to raise an army, including mesmerize-mounted cavalry and advanced ATMA weapons purchased from Galbadia. This new force, calling themselves the Centran Revival Army acquired wealth and backing from around the world, in particular with the former Galbadian Army leadership. The CRA was bolstered by the discovery of a Garden-like facility and the technology there-in to push forward towards war.
 * Rise of the Centrans

Prior to the outbreak of an all out war, President Laguna Lorie of Esthar was kidnapped in a bid to ransom a large sum for the war effort. He was soon rescued by Squall and other SeeD forces. As he and Squall discussed the situation, a Moomba, known as Grr-Face, who had become Laguna's companion sometime ago, became imprinted on Squall and followed him back to Balamb.
 * Presidential Debate

When a narcotics investigation at Balamb draws Headmaster Cid's attention, a plot in uncovered that the Centrans are preparing to launch their war campaign, starting with a covert assault against Balamb Garden to eliminate SeeDs leadership. The narcotics were supplied by the Centrans through an agent to release as a gas to disable the Gardens personnel. Once the gas attack had begun, the CRA infiltration team was surprised to discover that none of the command staff was in the Garden. Kramer, along with Squall's team had discovered the Centran plot while investigating in Balamb City. They quickly returned to the Garden, and under the cover of a full blackout, a pitch battle took place. While the CRA attack failed, they did succeed in retrieving a key fragment that along with 4 others could unlock a cavern where some deadly creations of Sorceress Adel had been sealed away in the aftermath of the Sorceress Wars by the Kramer's and their allies. With no choice but to stop them, Balamb Garden prepared for war and took off again.
 * Raid on Balamb Garden

Not long after the outbreak of the war, the Guardian Forces became embroiled in their own internal conflicts. A rebel faction was seeking to join the Centrans, against the command of Gilgamesh and Bahamut. Borrowing their human hosts, the GFs fought and finally agreed to take a "hands off" stance, leaving the humans to fight this war without them. The fight took it's toll on their hosts, leaving them weakened without the powers their GFs granted them.
 * Guardians Abandoned

As the Centran War machines assault Balamb Island, Esthar, and Dollet, the SeeDs move from battlefield to battlefield, rescuing allies, delaying the enemy and trying to prevent them from acquiring the remaining key fragments. SeeD members fought a valiant rear-guard defensive effort, but were rapidly loosing ground.
 * War Fronts

The Battle of Trabia Garden saw intense fighting as SeeD forces from Balamb broke through the CRA cavalry lines to bring relief supplies to the besieged fortress. Trabian commander Roben Marceau refused to evacuate even though the Gardens engines remained nonfunctional. Commander Kramer soon joined them to search the damaged facility for another of the "Key" fragments to prevent the CRA from obtaining it. When they located the former vault, they found the key was already gone. Here, they first encountered the so called "Centran SeeDs," Reod, Neria and Garr, a trio of former students who had joined the Centran cause. After an intense series of duels and running fire fights, they drove off the Trio, and Squall's team located the key fragment, which had in fact been collected by a large Chocobo that found the sparkle of the key to be entrancing. Soon after the siege lifted for a short while, allowing engineers to complete repairs to the Garden's engines, and they left to join Balamb and their allies at sea.
 * Siege of Trabia Garden

The Dollet campaign saw the most intense fighting. SeeD elements were quickly overwhelmed and pinned down, necessitating an air drop by Squall's team to reach them. Thanks to their efforts, the SeeD corps secured an escape route for civilians evacuating the city and regrouped on Balamb Island. Even with two Garden facilities and a fleet of ships, and the Ragnarok, they are not enough to halt the CRA's advance. In an effort to stall the invasion, SeeD forces bombed the tunnel connecting Balamb to the mainland, trapping Squall's forces behind enemy lines along with Cid Kramer, Xion and several other soldiers.
 * Falling Back

Isolated at a farm outside the capital, the SeeD forces were able to do significant damage to the CRA's efforts when they destroyed the ATMA repair facility and routed a relief force in a combined operation with local rebels. They finally received their evacuation onboard the Ragnarok, commandeered by Selphie and Rinoa to rescue them.

The Project was placed on hold at this point and a conclusion is pending.

Background
The FF8 Larp was the idea of Michael Lane and Cat DeNio based on both their love of the characters and their experience cosplaying as them at several conventions. While more an exercise in Role-play rather than a proper RPG, the LARP garnered the attention of other members, and slowly grew to include several new "players". Along the way, several "temporary" members joined up, some just for one or two events, others soon became long term members of HMP.

The initial events were largely unconnected adventures of Squall and Irvine, and were soon joined by others. In addition to the main events taking place at Big Canoe Park, the group would occasionally go out in public, in character, to malls (representing Fisherman's Horizon) and other amusements to continue the story.

A new tone was set late in the LARPs development when the ongoing Centran War storyline came to the front, driven by Michael Lane. The story brought in many new elements such as on-site special effects (in the form of extensive fireworks use), major pitched battles with hundreds of imagined opponents, and the move from the Big Canoe trails to the Spencer Farm and other explorations.

One difficulty with work on the Centralis was that for a variety of reasons original characters (Deshane and Xion) and out-of-character behaviors (Squall and Cid) began to take hold of events, pulling the story further from the FF8 root story. Eventually, the decision was made to conclude the FF8 LARP and begin designing a new project that would accommodate the increased player base and give more freedom of story development.

Naming
While no official name was originally given for the project, other than FF8 Larp, Centralis was created as a term to refer to the entire project based on the concluding storyline, The Centran War.

Main Cast

 * Squall Leonhart - SeeD Field Commander and instructor
 * Irvine Kinneas - SeeD instructor, Balamb Garden
 * Quistis Trepe - SeeD instructor, Vice Principal of Balamb Garden
 * Dakin Deshane - SeeD Field Operative (OC)
 * Cid Kramer - Head of SeeD Forces and Principal of Balamb Garden
 * Selphie Tilmett - Trabia Garden Liaison Officer
 * Xion Keldian - Recent SeeD recruit (OC)

Supporting Characters

 * President Laguna Loire - Leader of Esthar, and Squall's father
 * Roben Marceau - New head of Trabia Garden
 * Nida - Balamb Garden's Pilot
 * Rinoa Heartilly - Squall's Girlfriend and deputy mayor of Timber

Opposing Forces
Centran SeeD's
 * Reod - the efficient and quick Dervish
 * Neria - An expert with Eshtarian Beam weapons
 * Garr - the twisted Summoner

Founding Members

 * Michael Lane as Squall Leonhart
 * Cat DeNio as Irvine Kinneas

Supporting Players

 * Chelsea Naughtin as Quistis Trepe
 * Colin Eade as Dakin Deshane
 * Andrew Eade as Cid Kramer
 * Aaron Spencer as Xion Keldian
 * Amber Foster as Rinoa Heartilly
 * Jennifer Thomas as Selphie Tilmett

Links
FFVIII @ the FF Wikia - A major source for information on FF8 and other inspirations.