Can someone explain the timeline for me?

[Grahost]

I like the game, but I'm always confused by the timeline of events. I'm not talking about Bioshock Infinite or anything, just Bioshock 1.
As I understand it, there was civil unrest, because of Atlas and plasmids. So Ryan takes control over all business, or at least Fontaine's, and then Fontaine disappears. So far, so good, I think.
But when you start the game (SPOILERS, obviously) it looks like the civil war has been going for a few days, but people act like it has been going on for a long time. Is there an answer to this? Also, why are there only like...5 people left in Rapture? Did they die, flee or did everyone just decide that being a splicer looked cool? What are Ryan and Atlas even fighting for if the city is just a leaking, dying mess?
Thanks in advance for any help.

[Grahost]

Originally posted by Wayowl:

The civil war was because, on New Year's Eve before 1959, there was a terrorist attack in a cafe organized by Atlas (Frank), when many people from the upper class were killed, Ryan did take control of Fontaine's business, but after that Frank initiated his death, and became Atlas, simple a man of the people and not a wealthy entrepreneur who profited from smuggling, which helped him to attract a lot of low-income segments of the population to his side, the plot is rather complicated, but the bottom line is that, Ryan hopes to return the city to its former appearance, he was able to inflict indestructible losses by the fact that he learned to control all mutants with the help of pheromones, and Atlas had almost no allies left, so he called us
Due to the effects of Adam, there are very few people who do not use it. For a more detailed story, you can watch YouTube on this topic, or read the book by John Shirley "Rapture".

I really only wanted to know how long the civil war had been going on.

[Doctor Go-Go]

It's just a wacky affair within an alternate reality or universe. I don't think they really focused on a full time line with a complete history of events, it was just whatever could be improvised to facilitate a story so they could make a game.

[Mr. Nobody]

We know (BaS spoilers)Elizabeth is murdered by Atlas in January of 1959 and Jack arrives in Rapture at some unspecified date in 1960. But that's about as much as we know of specific dates as far as I know.

So the entire timeline of events we learn about in Bioshock 1 (civil war inclusive) take place over a time frame between 1-2 years.

At the end of the day, if the exact time line actually mattered the information would have been given to us. It wasn't, so it's safe to assume it's not important to the overarching story.

[Grahost]

Originally posted by Mr. Nobody:

We know (BaS spoilers)Elizabeth is murdered by Atlas in January of 1959 and Jack arrives in Rapture at some unspecified date in 1960. But that's about as much as we know of specific dates as far as I know.

So the entire timeline of events we learn about in Bioshock 1 (civil war inclusive) take place over a time frame between 1-2 years.

At the end of the day, if the exact time line actually mattered the information would have been given to us. It wasn't, so it's safe to assume it's not important to the overarching story.

Yes, the preamble to the protagonist's arrival isn't really that important to the game or your immediate actions, but for games like Bioshock players, or at least I, do want the world to feel lived in. And in many of these games, you arrive at a place in crisis, full with dead people and monsters, with maybe a few survivors talking to you over the radio. And I always find the crisis to be a lot less thought out than the characters, environment or gameplay. Like, how how long has this underwater city been in disrepair filled with crazy addicts with Ryan holed up in his office? Some things seem like they have or should have happened for a long time, while others seemed like they just happened.

I just find crisis in these games to be a bit lackluster.

[Thogmar]

These games are incredible classics in art design, sound, and atmosphere. You're digging a bit deep into the story/lore, it's not fallout - enjoy the game.

[Grahost]

Originally posted by Thogmar:

These games are incredible classics in art design, sound, and atmosphere. You're digging a bit deep into the story/lore, it's not fallout - enjoy the game.

The game is also innovative in many ways, which is why people really like Bioshock, but not so much its predecessors, like System Shock. And with the attitude "it's old fashioned in design, so you shouldn't criticise it for this and that" I find will only hurt the game and designers. It treats them as they aren't adult professionals making a multi-million dollar project. I'm after all not asking about a detailed timeline, I'm simply asking if there is a explanation to this pretty obvious issue that, if answered, would greatly improve the game and fit with a lot of other design choices.