Lost and forgotten world

[fyifoff.livejournal.com]

I posted way back, and have not been able to get back here; So here I go:

In my Sci-Fi there is a lifeless planet, much like a desert. I boy and a girl live in a dome which is made man. They leave because of a comet, which causes a storm, this time however the storm removes the sand. Their dome, is atop a 10 story building, but the 'real' city is underground, of which, one solo survivor is still alive.

My problem: The city isn't really dangerous, yes there are two different groups after them and whatever they can find in the city. But I can't find a lot of movies that cover finding lost cities. In most movies, these unseen underground cities crumble and is lost forever. That is not happening here.

Other then character arguments and having to figure out a 'puzzle' to get by a location what else can I add??

Comments

[starlight83.livejournal.com]

There's a lot of issues you can bring up and explore with a lost city. I'm not sure from what you've provided here how many of them could work with your story. But everything I've read/seen has focused on things like:

-What happened to the people who built the city? How did it get abandoned/buried/lost to begin with?
-Discovering some form of technology or knowledge those people possessed which has since been lost.
-Exploring and explaining your world's culture and history
-Using the city as a means of explaining mythic events from your world's past (like...this is from back when this planet was part of a galactic empire/ruled by other powerful beings/from when WE had a galactic empire!)
-Following opposing parties who are both hunting for some ancient object of great value...the holy grail, the spear of destiny, etc.
-Exploring the city exposes the characters to some disease that had been contained/dormant within the city until they arrived.

There's a lot of options. I really like books and tv shows and movies that explore ancient, forgotten places. So if you want some recs, I can make a list.

But this might be more of an under-developed plot problem. If there isn't anything really *plot significant* about your lost city, then it's just a backdrop.

[the-mome-wrath.livejournal.com]

Rather than looking to movies for inspiration, it might be a better idea to look at archaeology for inspiration. After all, it's part of the job description. There are many ancient cities that are in surprisingly good condition considering their age and climate, and they all had to be found and explored somehow. I'm sure you can find some National Geographic, And Archaeology magazine articles that would be helpful, as well as some History Channel episodes online. I believe the History Channel even has a show all about lost and forgotten tunnels under cities that were built during ancient times. I think it's called "Cities of the Underworld" or something similar. There are also countless books on the subject of exploring lost cities.

If the culture that lived in the city had a writing system there can be references left from people's daily lives. There doesn't have to be a big huge treasure hidden there. All ancient cities have "treasure", but usually it's just things of historical and archaeological value. Your characters could also be exploring a city referenced to in a legend or story/history. Maybe it was a city where there was a war and the legend of the war survived even though the location of the city was lost.

Put some thought into why the city was abandoned. That will greatly effect what they find in the city. When people leave a place they take certain items with them. What is left behind is effected by this. Did the people leave because of a plague? War? Famine? Evacuation? This will also effect the condition of the city.