Hey hey!
I'm developing a game which the main character has schizophrenia. He was acused to murder his wife. After that: jail.
However, he wants to escape from the prison. In order to do that, the player needs to interact with differents characters inside the prison.
And a new idea came to my mind: a janitor. However, he doesn't exist! He is from the main character's mind (schizophrenia).
So, I'd like to have more ideas to create this character (janitor). What is his name? His intentions? Story background? When he will appear in the game?
Thanks for any contribution :D.
P.S: the game is called RUN. I'm developing it using Unreal Engine 4 (http://www.torchgames.net/#!run/cklj)
Ideas for character that doesn't exist
So, I'd like to have more ideas to create this character (janitor). What is his name? His intentions? Story background? When he will appear in the game?
I'm moving this to the Writing forum.
If your main character has multiple personalities or hallucinations, it would make sense if the other characters were somehow related to his psyche. For example an aspect of his personality, such as an obsessive compulsive cleaner (and therefore the job janitor), a lazy janitor (the underachieving part of him), a representation of his father, etc. The goals of the character could match those aspects, for example the obsessive compulsive janitor could be very unforgiving and want to punish him for things he's guilty about, the lazy janitor could be very devious and taking advantage of his flaws to hold him back, the father janitor could be tough but secretly trying to help him out. Another possibility is that other characters would represent people that they have strong feelings about in their life, or represent a sequence of events that occurred on the day that his wife was murdered.
If you don't mind the suggestion, it sounds like you have room for a fair number of characters, so try to include a bit of diversity to make your game stand out. This is a genre that could go straight to stereotype. Even in a men's prison (which seems like the ideal place for male-only gang-bangers) there are options:
- Inmates come from all walks of life and races. They could be there for the most serious crime or the most minor.
- Lawyers can be any race/gender.
- Visitors can be any race/gender/profession.
- Guards may be any race and have a variety of pasts.
- Depending upon regulations there may also be diversity in people who work in medical/management/office work/training programs/etc.
Author
Good point, jefferytian! That was one of my main ideas: "other characters were somehow related to his psyche". I was thinking to use the Janitor as a way to explain to the player the real personality of the main character. Thanks!
Suggestions are amazing. I like them :). And thanks for yours ;).
In the game will have a lot of inmates that you need to interact. Some of them may help you, while others won't. Also, we thought about gangs/factions inside the prison, made by inmates.
Lawyers and Visitors are a nice idea. They might come with news (or whatever) from the outside world, and could be good for the main character (or even bad).
In the game, the main character will have a partner: his psychiatrist. They worked together some years ago. And they have a good relation.
Well, the main thing that comes to mind when I read your OP, is:
KNOW what schizophrenia IS
I'm sure yall have thought and looked into it, but mental ilness has its stigmas, and false information out there.
You mention how the psychiatrist will be a pivital part of the game, so know the field.
I don't mean to be like, pointing out teh obvioud, but if not handled aproeriatelly, this could turn into a PR nightmare.
I don't expect you to tell me the personal story as to what inspired this game, but there likelly is one. And if there isn't, and your answer is, "oh, we/ I thought it'd be cool and set us appart" The I'll just say, do your research.
Jeff mention the right idea, but the wrong solution, introducing comorbidity may be interesting, but would complicate a lot of things, if you do this, have a good reason.
This might be of interest:
http://www.depressionquest.com/
Sorry, I'm a psych major, so I have to think about these things.
Edit:
Don't mean to be like this, but why did yall decide to do a 3rd person view for this?
It makes it more difficult to portray the mental illness symptoms in my mind, pun not intended.
It is true, to work with the idea of Schizophrenia, you need to understand it very well. Schizophrenics don't usually have multiple personalities, but they do have hallucinations, and most of the time these aren't good visions. Usually it is a person or illusion that has come to torment them (which is not always true, but most of the time). So anyway, I am going to go all Matrix and suggest that this guy be named Morpheus, since he is an illusion and Morpheus was the God of dreams....Or you could call him Glen. Whatever floats your boat. Since this seems to be a helpful apparition as opposed to an evil one, he would probably show up when your character is lost, needs suggestions, or is in desperate need of help. I like your concept, it is interesting. Hope this helps....Somehow. Cheers!!
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