I was thinking today and I came up with an idea that, frankly I don't have the technology to develop, but would be a very interesting concept. Before I open my mouth though, don't flame me because you think I'm trying to make this :D . Also, this idea is REALLY hard to convey into words, but I'll do the best I can. The game would attempt to look as realistic as possible(I'm thinking a high quality Unreal 3 engine with Havok or Ageia Physics incorperated). It would always have a graphicly dark tone and focus on dynamic shadows. Bascily, the game would be a first person survival game with a some weapons involved, but the game isn't centered around fighting. The view would need to be first person for the sake of realism. You would also be able to see your hands, feet, and your own shadow (something rarley incorperated in games). It would also center around chain reactions that lead to destruction (think final destination 3). Now, this game would center around evil... and not hardcore rocking Doom3 type evil, just... really scary evil. And before you get on me about a religeous based game.. look at it this way, doom3 was technically religeous... and I'm not religeous either, so I'm not preaching here. Just work with me for a second. The game would take place in a post apocoliptic (2070) setting where the world is always dark. Most technology is modern because of lack of advancement after destruction, but space travel has far advanced (important later) and the first self contained colony on mars has been set up. No, this game doesn't take place on mars. No up-front story is offered, but exploring your surroundings reveals that this is the earth after the rapture and god has "left". The devil was free to then control the earth, not by force, but by mischeif. Making people turn against eachother and causing the largest war in history where nuclear weapons were used world wide. Radiation closed off most parts of the world, but a few citys were, not left in tact, but habbitable. Wild animals roam the country side, most of them infected with an equvelant of mad cow disease. They attack and eat anything they can. The worlds last weapon stocks are used for keeping these beasts away. Taking refuge in churches is useless. With no god, all religeous symbols and asylums are meaningless. The most direct power that the devil uses against people is series of chain reactions often leading to disfigurment or death. He uses hollucinations, such as seeing things in mirrors that arent there, sounds that are never made, and conjuring visions of animals attackng you. Some of the events are real, but can you tell which ones? The story of the game involves traveling between and through cities with your "tribe" of survivers and attempt to reach the south where rockets have been built that are specialized to travel back and fourth between earth, and the Mars colony. You have to unite with other groups to travel and keep protections from beasts and traps. Try to keep your team together and travel through the most frightening places imaginable while the devil tries to tear you apart. Many times, you are sperated from your group and are forced to travel alone. Your only options now are to leave Earth, or get sucked down to hell. ----------------- So it's a vauge idea... but I thought id be an interesting concept. Feedback? EDIT: the statment about the "2 options" thing is very mis-leading the way I worded it. You don't have a litteral "choice" whether you want to leave earth or not, it was simply implying either you survive or you dont. Besides, who wants to get sucked down to hell? :D [Edited by - TheKrust on August 3, 2007 1:55:38 AM]

Yeah, key word is "skimmed through". You obviously didn't catch the part where I said that fighting is a very small part of the game. One of the most important parts you missed was --->I'M NOT MAKING THIS<---. I'm not that ignorant.

As for evil endin up as characters.. I guess I'm not sure what you mean. If you're just talking about zombies and such, that's what I'd be trying to avoid.

As for realistic graphics ruining the "scary effect" ummm, what else would you suggest? Are you more scared by Scream 3, or a late 40's version of "the fly" or "it came from outer-space" lol.

What you're suggesting is I'd use non-realistic graphics to try to immerse people. I might as well make a text game and say "BOO!" on the screen.

From a religious standpoint — in this case, you're talking about Judaism (not to be confused with Christianity) — your idea of God "leaving" earth is quite simply impossible, but in the interest of poetic license I'll give it to you, because I think your idea is very interesting. It has the potential to make for a very powerful roleplaying experience, especially if players could choose to side with evil and become instruments of darkness, or maintain the path to divinity and board the rocket to Mars. This good-evil dichotomy always has the potential to work very well, but I've never actually seen it implemented properly. For one thing, "evil" is not to be confused with "scary," as one does not imply the other. Evil is shameful and abhorant; scary is giant spiders.

I'm interested in knowing how you would implement this "chain reaction" idea. Are these sequences scripted and rigid, the same each time you play (and thus deterministic and ultimately boring), or have you considered a kind of dynamic system that varies based on player choices?

The idea of traveling alone reminds me of Christ's time in the wilderness, when he was tempted by the devil. I could see the main character enduring a similar moral dilemma on his or her journey to the rockets (either to board or destroy them). Sort of a Christ-meets-Moses epic tale. Many fictional heroes and stories have been based on scripture.

In fact, rather than giving the player the choice to board or destroy the rockets at the very end of the story, the path taken through the story should determine what the main character does when he or she finally gets there. The thing that really annoyed me about Deus Ex 2 was that the entire game did not matter when you got to the very end and were ultimately offered the distinct choice of which agenda you wanted to support. This kind of decision should be made throughout the game through action, not at the very end by a single choice. It defeats the purpose of playing a game more than once if only the last five minutes have any effect on the outcome.

Anyway, I think it's an interesting amalgamation of ideas.

well, like I said, from a religeous standpoint, it would be impossible, but that's what creativity is all about. I realize that the way I worded the "2 options" thing was confusing, but no, once you reach the rockets, you get off the planet.

As for the scripted chain reactions. That's why I included Havok or Ageia. Those are both very realistic physics engines as used in half life 2 and can cause litterally hundereds of different chains of events with relitavley little scripting.

The game would have a low replayability simply because it's story based, but should make up for it by being very long. Some people however like story driven games and to replay them. It's like watching your favorite movie more than once.

The difference between evil and scary is quite clear, but for purpose of content, they would be intermingled. Scary is when you're trapped inside a house trying to run away from a wolf plauged by rabbies as it growls and barks at you from it's foaming mouth. Evil is breifly seeing a dead face with glowing red eyes in the mirror and then flinging around to see that nothing's there.

Quote:Original post by let_bound
When it comes to scare, I personally find text much more intense than pretty graphics, because my imagination will beat yours anytime when it comes to scaring myself. One of the reasons why I'm such an avid reader is because my imagination actually gets to work, instead of being shown and told everything. Obviously YMMV.

There is no sarcasm at all when I say I admire that in a person. However, most people arent that way, and personally, Im a moderate reader and I've never had anything text related scratch the surface when it comes to horror. I don't scare easily either so I think it would be good for someone with a very high tolerance to design it.

As for scream 3 lol, yeah it wasn't scary. But when compared, I actually saw the origional fly and I was seriously cracking up half the movie. The effects were so bad it was just funny. Back then, they used melted choclolate for blood, no joke. At least scream 3 gave me the jumps a few times.