Hey, TJ here. I think I'm the one who ended up with the leadership responsibilities in terms of orginizing this project (in the instance that this becomes a team-developement project). With that said, I would like to put out a list of what I would want in this game (my wish list, if you would have it), followed by a sample game plot I am interested in pursuing.
In this project, I would like to see:
- Value in theme: I want a good theme, something deep (maybe emotional self realization). I want a plot that immerses the character in a world with real emotion. I would also note that I would rather not any corny surrealism or cliche morals.
- Bright projection: In conjuction with the above, I want to develope a game with emotional value, but still a cheery presence. You can have nice and humerous go hand in hand with depth (Tales of Symphonia, anyone?) without being a corny, cliche instance (FFXIII, nuf said).
- No World Domination. No one want's to save a world they have nothing to do with. Let's give people a game about people you an care about. It's easy to create feasible people that people can care about, as apposed to a whole world.
- Field action. Most RPGs have three screens. The World Map play, the Field, and the Battle. I would rather tone down time spent in battle and more time exploring and learning and meeting and immersing yourself in the world then constantly not knowing whats around the corner cause of some random battle.
With that said, here is a sample plot that has a possibility of encorperation the above features.
Two characters are in love at a young age. One of the lovers comes down with a special condition or illness. To solve this problem, the other lover (main character) steals/takes by force an obect that would aid her illness or an artifact to keep her well. All is saved
However, the person who got sheisted is pissed and hires a mercenary to get after the object/artifact. The two characters hear this and the characer who needed to be saved is forced to flee her home town (bringing a family member or friend to come with for protection and support) where the mercenary searches for her. The mercenary gets some sort of tip to the fleeing character and starts traveling. When the main character learns the mercenary is hot on his lovers trail, he sets off to stop him. Thus becomes a chasing-the-chaser game.
Twists:
- The main character is the female of the two lovers. Female main character. Nuff said.
- (This is a twist I think is vital to the success of this plot) There is a tribe or group that seeks the relic the fleeing character has. They get to the man who was the origional owner, learn of what happened, and also set out (they also may need this healing object for an important member of their group. I was thinking since it was a healing relic, a nice idea is they have a dying leader, and the heir to the thrown is a prick, so they seek the relic to extend their leaders life.)
- I want the mercenary to be a oung sorceror type. A male character with flair. Serious, but not dark. A young punk 20 year old kinda guy.
This is just a thought. I would right more, but I have to get to sleep. More later, and thanks for participating.
-TJ
Collaborative Game Story Survey
1)
- Genre: no preference
- Characters: super-evil wizard
- Abilities: Fireball
- Tropes: Forest-dwelling elves
- Plots: Save the world
- Settings: Tolkein fantasy
2)
- Genre: no preference
- Characters: no preference
- Abilities: physical magics (i.e. flaming fists, heal self)
- Tropes: Craft guilds
- Plots: Law-enforcement style--think Thief on the other side of the law.
- Settings: A modern fantasy. Guns and magic (the only magic being primarily concerned with physical enhancement, nothing like fireball)
3) What is not an idea of yours but might be cool to see in a single-player RPG?
- Genre: No Preference
- Characters: No Preference
- Abilities: Flight (see Dark and Light)
- Tropes: mob!
- Plots: No Preference
- Settings: Fight on a rope bridge over a rushing river.
4) Romance has been mentioned a lot recently. Please describe in as much detail as possible how much and what kind of romance you would want the game to have.
-I'd like to see the romance confined to FF-style. That is: one character interested in another, and may have ramifications, but only in the sense of "go on a quest to save the lover".
5) If you could only choose one item you have listed above to go into the story, which one would it be?
-Modern fantasy.
- Genre: no preference
- Characters: super-evil wizard
- Abilities: Fireball
- Tropes: Forest-dwelling elves
- Plots: Save the world
- Settings: Tolkein fantasy
2)
- Genre: no preference
- Characters: no preference
- Abilities: physical magics (i.e. flaming fists, heal self)
- Tropes: Craft guilds
- Plots: Law-enforcement style--think Thief on the other side of the law.
- Settings: A modern fantasy. Guns and magic (the only magic being primarily concerned with physical enhancement, nothing like fireball)
3) What is not an idea of yours but might be cool to see in a single-player RPG?
- Genre: No Preference
- Characters: No Preference
- Abilities: Flight (see Dark and Light)
- Tropes: mob!
- Plots: No Preference
- Settings: Fight on a rope bridge over a rushing river.
4) Romance has been mentioned a lot recently. Please describe in as much detail as possible how much and what kind of romance you would want the game to have.
-I'd like to see the romance confined to FF-style. That is: one character interested in another, and may have ramifications, but only in the sense of "go on a quest to save the lover".
5) If you could only choose one item you have listed above to go into the story, which one would it be?
-Modern fantasy.
1) What do you _not_ want to see in the story?
- Genre:
- Characters: The tough guy, the archer/healer (usually a girl), the wizard, and the plucky young kid all as one team.
- Abilities: Magical spells that are over the top (FF7 style spells)
- Tropes: The evil corporation that is destroying the world, or a lone evil figure that you want revenge on for killing your father
- Plots: Being the saviour of the entire world, even though you are just one 11yr old kid. And NO CONSPIRACY PLOTS!
- Settings: Another fantasy game. They have been overdone in my opinion, and are starting to become standard D&D/LOTR settings (trolls, orcs etc.)
2) What existing ideas do you have that you would like to possibly put into the story (describe in detail please)?
- Genre: Dark sci-fi psychological plots. Exploring the dark side of science in the future, asking a lot of moral questions to the player.
- Characters: Characters that are psychologically effected by the plot as it goes on, slowly changing from one personality to another as the game progresses, perhaps leaving some characters incapacitated in extreme cases. They should also have one or two major faults in the way they spend their lives.
- Abilities: I think abilities that need to be explained as the game goes on have always been a favourite of mine. Allows for lots of plot twists.
- Tropes: Im actually not to sure what tropes means [sad]
- Plots: Stories that make you think long after you have stopped playing the game. There should be moral issues that the player spends their spare time thinking about, and trying to figure out the intricate plot twists in the game. I never write stories that are straight forward, I always try to ask more questions than I answer (Not surprisingly, David Lynch is one of my favourite directors [grin])
- Settings: New cultures that the both the player and in game character have no idea about ( example in your other thread )
3)
Pretty much the same as above
4) Romance has been mentioned a lot recently. Please describe in as much detail as possible how much and what kind of romance you would want the game to have.
A romance story should be about struggle and overcoming adversity. So having a story where even the player believes that the main characters should never fall in love with each other works nicely. So, if it’s a human girl, and a boy space lizard, then as the game goes on really play up the girls character so that the player really starts to feel as though that character is someone that they would probably fall for in real life as well. Then show the space lizards angst as it tries to overcome its feelings that it knows is wrong, and the player will hopefully start to feel extremely sympathetic towards the space lizard. (I hope that makes sense)
5) If you could only choose one item you have listed above to go into the story, which one would it be?
Stories that make you think long after you have stopped playing the game.
- Genre:
- Characters: The tough guy, the archer/healer (usually a girl), the wizard, and the plucky young kid all as one team.
- Abilities: Magical spells that are over the top (FF7 style spells)
- Tropes: The evil corporation that is destroying the world, or a lone evil figure that you want revenge on for killing your father
- Plots: Being the saviour of the entire world, even though you are just one 11yr old kid. And NO CONSPIRACY PLOTS!
- Settings: Another fantasy game. They have been overdone in my opinion, and are starting to become standard D&D/LOTR settings (trolls, orcs etc.)
2) What existing ideas do you have that you would like to possibly put into the story (describe in detail please)?
- Genre: Dark sci-fi psychological plots. Exploring the dark side of science in the future, asking a lot of moral questions to the player.
- Characters: Characters that are psychologically effected by the plot as it goes on, slowly changing from one personality to another as the game progresses, perhaps leaving some characters incapacitated in extreme cases. They should also have one or two major faults in the way they spend their lives.
- Abilities: I think abilities that need to be explained as the game goes on have always been a favourite of mine. Allows for lots of plot twists.
- Tropes: Im actually not to sure what tropes means [sad]
- Plots: Stories that make you think long after you have stopped playing the game. There should be moral issues that the player spends their spare time thinking about, and trying to figure out the intricate plot twists in the game. I never write stories that are straight forward, I always try to ask more questions than I answer (Not surprisingly, David Lynch is one of my favourite directors [grin])
- Settings: New cultures that the both the player and in game character have no idea about ( example in your other thread )
3)
Pretty much the same as above
4) Romance has been mentioned a lot recently. Please describe in as much detail as possible how much and what kind of romance you would want the game to have.
A romance story should be about struggle and overcoming adversity. So having a story where even the player believes that the main characters should never fall in love with each other works nicely. So, if it’s a human girl, and a boy space lizard, then as the game goes on really play up the girls character so that the player really starts to feel as though that character is someone that they would probably fall for in real life as well. Then show the space lizards angst as it tries to overcome its feelings that it knows is wrong, and the player will hopefully start to feel extremely sympathetic towards the space lizard. (I hope that makes sense)
5) If you could only choose one item you have listed above to go into the story, which one would it be?
Stories that make you think long after you have stopped playing the game.
1) What do you _not_ want to see in the story?
I don't want to see elves, dwarves, halfings, or orcs.
2) What existing ideas do you have that you would like to possibly put into the story (describe in detail please)?
A sci-fi/fantasy combination. All human characters that come from different eras/times on Earth...our Earth. Magic, technology, chaos, evil and twisted bad guys, and the world coming to an end. Time rifts and special powers.
3) What is not an idea of yours but might be cool to see in a single-player RPG?
eh...
4) Romance has been mentioned a lot recently. Please describe in as much detail as possible how much and what kind of romance you would want the game to have.
I think a tension setting romance would be awesome in game. Nothing super mushy, but not undeniable either. I'm even interested in haveing the hero/heroine and villan have a twisted crush thing going on...Say the villan is in love with the hero/ine, but is so "evil" that being denied only spurns more trouble for the good guy/gal.
5) If you could only choose one item you have listed above to go into the story, which one would it be?
Contact me at: evie_enchantress@yahoo.com
I don't want to see elves, dwarves, halfings, or orcs.
2) What existing ideas do you have that you would like to possibly put into the story (describe in detail please)?
A sci-fi/fantasy combination. All human characters that come from different eras/times on Earth...our Earth. Magic, technology, chaos, evil and twisted bad guys, and the world coming to an end. Time rifts and special powers.
3) What is not an idea of yours but might be cool to see in a single-player RPG?
eh...
4) Romance has been mentioned a lot recently. Please describe in as much detail as possible how much and what kind of romance you would want the game to have.
I think a tension setting romance would be awesome in game. Nothing super mushy, but not undeniable either. I'm even interested in haveing the hero/heroine and villan have a twisted crush thing going on...Say the villan is in love with the hero/ine, but is so "evil" that being denied only spurns more trouble for the good guy/gal.
5) If you could only choose one item you have listed above to go into the story, which one would it be?
Contact me at: evie_enchantress@yahoo.com
Author
Quote:Original post by boolean
- Tropes: Im actually not to sure what tropes means [sad]
Oh, sorry - tropes are just objects that occur in the story; they usually have connotative value (because you've seen them other places before) or symbolic value (because of they way they are thought of in your culture) and they help establish the setting/theme. Some examples: unicorns, animate trees, ninjas, pirates, vampires, a sword with a personality, psychic riding animals, giant clocktowers, zepplins, werewolves, vampires, zombies, ray guns, genies, faeries...
1) What do you _not_ want to see in the story?
- Genre: fantasy typical over zealous magic fanatics
- Characters: unmoral with no inner conflict and no love for life
- Abilities: unimaginable secret abilities, (able to leap tall buildings in a single bound)
not just saying the words of a spell or from a spell book, no typical spells (fireball lighting bolt, etc…)
- Tropes: all of them
- Plots: twisted, sick, demented, non-moral, agonizingly untrue, materialistic, Hollywood romance, end of the world, disease, sexual, boring, narrow minded.
- Settings: Medieval and Tolkien rip offs, anything modern earth related
2) What existing ideas do you have that you would like to possibly put into the story (describe in detail please)?
- Genre: futuristic (no typical sci-fi and not fantasy and not nearly close to either.)
- Characters: Multitude of characters whose interactions are the game play
- Abilities: magic that relies on thought and mind puzzles
- Tropes: completely different technological tools and devices
- Plots: Explained somewhat in the answer to question 4
- Settings: Millions of eons into the future where humanity no longer exists if it existed at all. New races ideas religions technologies nothing based on earth something completely new and defined only by the history of those objects starting from nomads to a advanced civilization
3) What is not an idea of yours but might be cool to see in a single-player RPG?
- Genre: none
- Characters: none
- Abilities: none
- Tropes: none
- Plots: none
- Settings: none
4) Romance has been mentioned a lot recently. Please describe in as much detail as possible how much and what kind of romance you would want the game to have.
Damsel in distress where nobility and chivalry are a part of the culture and there is a sense of holiness. Something that the player will like about the character and the more they play the more they love the character. Start out with a very interesting battle/mystery and the player has to solve it. Or where the player has to discover something about his/her dreams through game play. He/she has dreams in which seem meaningless and he/she gets clues from his/her life as to what they mean. They mean he/she is in love with someone who he/she interacts with and leading up to this is the process of making him/her fall in love with one or all of the characters in the game. (lots of he/she's in there )
5) If you could only choose one item you have listed above to go into the story, which one would it be?
Setting for number 2
- Genre: fantasy typical over zealous magic fanatics
- Characters: unmoral with no inner conflict and no love for life
- Abilities: unimaginable secret abilities, (able to leap tall buildings in a single bound)
not just saying the words of a spell or from a spell book, no typical spells (fireball lighting bolt, etc…)
- Tropes: all of them
- Plots: twisted, sick, demented, non-moral, agonizingly untrue, materialistic, Hollywood romance, end of the world, disease, sexual, boring, narrow minded.
- Settings: Medieval and Tolkien rip offs, anything modern earth related
2) What existing ideas do you have that you would like to possibly put into the story (describe in detail please)?
- Genre: futuristic (no typical sci-fi and not fantasy and not nearly close to either.)
- Characters: Multitude of characters whose interactions are the game play
- Abilities: magic that relies on thought and mind puzzles
- Tropes: completely different technological tools and devices
- Plots: Explained somewhat in the answer to question 4
- Settings: Millions of eons into the future where humanity no longer exists if it existed at all. New races ideas religions technologies nothing based on earth something completely new and defined only by the history of those objects starting from nomads to a advanced civilization
3) What is not an idea of yours but might be cool to see in a single-player RPG?
- Genre: none
- Characters: none
- Abilities: none
- Tropes: none
- Plots: none
- Settings: none
4) Romance has been mentioned a lot recently. Please describe in as much detail as possible how much and what kind of romance you would want the game to have.
Damsel in distress where nobility and chivalry are a part of the culture and there is a sense of holiness. Something that the player will like about the character and the more they play the more they love the character. Start out with a very interesting battle/mystery and the player has to solve it. Or where the player has to discover something about his/her dreams through game play. He/she has dreams in which seem meaningless and he/she gets clues from his/her life as to what they mean. They mean he/she is in love with someone who he/she interacts with and leading up to this is the process of making him/her fall in love with one or all of the characters in the game. (lots of he/she's in there )
5) If you could only choose one item you have listed above to go into the story, which one would it be?
Setting for number 2
Author
Quote:Original post by DesignerGuy
5) If you could only choose one item you have listed above to go into the story, which one would it be?
-Modern fantasy.
Is modern fantasy the same as magic realism? What sort of properties would the setting have to have to make it qualify as modern fantasy?
Quote:
3) What is not an idea of yours but might be cool to see in a single-player RPG?
- Abilities: Flight (see Dark and Light)
- Tropes: mob!
Could you provide a link to Dark and Light? And would that be 'a mob' as in a lynch mob, or 'The Mob' as in organized crime?
[Edited by - sunandshadow on August 31, 2004 1:53:15 PM]
Ditto sunandshadow!! We almost think the same.
In my opinion:
- you are not a hero
- you are not only one trying to acomplish main goal, npc's are to (this gives nice rivalry)
- no "save the world" scenario
- interesting world build around a story, not a setting (key events)
I would like to see some sci-fi scenario or good combination of sci-fi and fantasy. Also PC and NPC independance.
PS.
Can somebody link me to that forum where story was created with posts? About some weird and bizzare planet that died and some astronaut (female Russian?) is experiencing this past world
In my opinion:
- you are not a hero
- you are not only one trying to acomplish main goal, npc's are to (this gives nice rivalry)
- no "save the world" scenario
- interesting world build around a story, not a setting (key events)
I would like to see some sci-fi scenario or good combination of sci-fi and fantasy. Also PC and NPC independance.
PS.
Can somebody link me to that forum where story was created with posts? About some weird and bizzare planet that died and some astronaut (female Russian?) is experiencing this past world
Author
Quote:Original post by ffx
Ditto sunandshadow!! We almost think the same.
In my opinion:
- you are not a hero
- you are not only one trying to acomplish main goal, npc's are too (this gives nice rivalry)
- no "save the world" scenario
- interesting world build around a story, not a setting (key events)
I would like to see some sci-fi scenario or good combination of sci-fi and fantasy. Also PC and NPC independance.
PS.
Can somebody link me to that forum where story was created with posts? About some weird and bizzare planet that died and some astronaut (female Russian?) is experiencing this past world
Do you mean the original Forum Game?
Anyway, while it's flattering that you want to agree with me, if you don't fill out the survey, especally question #5, how can I figure out how to count your opinions when I tally the surveys? o.O
Author
Okay, since everyone's had more than 24 hours to respond to this thread, let's sum up.
Conflicts:
DesignerGuy - Genre - Modern Fantasy
Gamegod - Plot - 1000 years have passed since the near distruction of the humman race, however the cause this is unknown. Due to lack of resources a fragile peace exist. One day two groups of aliens appear on the planet, the first group is highly technologically advanced, with powerful weapons, craft, and have a hatred of spiritural concepts. The second is more ancient in nature, their weaponry is simple, and their only craft are seemingly animals that already exist on earth (horses for riding, other animals for carrying). However, they possess a strong spiritual power, that is both offensive and defensive.
5MinuteGaming- Setting - Millions of eons into the future, humanity no longer exists if it existed at all. New races, ideas, religions, technologies, nothing based on earth, something completely new and defined only by the history of those objects starting from nomads to a advanced civilization.
TraderJack, these three (above) conflict, so you get to sort that out. ;) My suggestion is go with Boolean's idea and make the (alien/fantasy) game cultures totally foreign to the (human) PC, because this makes for a nice game dynamic where the PC and player start out equally ignorant and learn together. I also suggest that the science fiction and fantasy elements be put together into the same world, not separated like in _The Longest Journey_ because we want to be able to play them off of each other.
Stuff that fits together:
Terlenth - Genre - Science Fantasy
Cangor - Characters - Deep Characters
Estok - Characters - Characters with double lives and moral grey areas
TechnoGoth - Abilities - All abilites come from either tools, or are taught in some kind of school. Abilities should be used to overcome diffrent challenges, obstacles and puzzles.
Sunandshadow - Plot - Optional romance between PC and male minor villain
Boolean - Plot - Stories that make you think long after you have stopped playing the game. There should be moral issues that the player spends their spare time thinking about, and trying to figure out the intricate plot twists in the game.
TraderJack
- Value in theme: I want a good theme, something deep (maybe emotional self realization). I want a plot that immerses the character in a world with real emotion. I would also note that I would rather not [use] any corny surrealism or cliche morals.
- Bright projection: In conjuction with the above, I want to develop a game with emotional value, but still a cheery presence. You can have nice and humorous go hand in hand with depth (Tales of Symphonia, anyone?) without being a corny, cliche instance (FFXIII, nuf said).
- No World Domination. No one wants to save a world they have nothing to do with. Let's give people a game about people you an care about. It's easy to create feasible people that people can care about, as apposed to a whole world.
- Field action. Most RPGs have three screens. The World Map play, the Field, and the Battle. I would rather tone down time spent in battle and more time exploring and learning and meeting and immersing yourself in the world then constantly not knowing what's around the corner cause of some random battle.
So, the seed of our game design doc:
Writing Forum Collaborative Game
Statement of purpose: We, the members of the gamedev writing forum, will pool our talents to create a science-fantasy game story for a single player RPG with a branching story and multiple endings and optional romance. The game will feature deep, complex characters and pondering of moral ambiguity, but will maintain a positive tone. The worldbuilding will be vivid and immersive with mysteries for the player to uncover, tools forhim/her to master, and ablities for him/her to learn, because the PC will not start out with any inherent special abilities. The plot will be complex. Gameplay will minimize battle and maximize world exploration and puzzles.
[edit Added TechnoGoth :) ]
Anybody object to anything in there?
[Edited by - sunandshadow on September 1, 2004 10:48:45 AM]
Conflicts:
DesignerGuy - Genre - Modern Fantasy
Gamegod - Plot - 1000 years have passed since the near distruction of the humman race, however the cause this is unknown. Due to lack of resources a fragile peace exist. One day two groups of aliens appear on the planet, the first group is highly technologically advanced, with powerful weapons, craft, and have a hatred of spiritural concepts. The second is more ancient in nature, their weaponry is simple, and their only craft are seemingly animals that already exist on earth (horses for riding, other animals for carrying). However, they possess a strong spiritual power, that is both offensive and defensive.
5MinuteGaming- Setting - Millions of eons into the future, humanity no longer exists if it existed at all. New races, ideas, religions, technologies, nothing based on earth, something completely new and defined only by the history of those objects starting from nomads to a advanced civilization.
TraderJack, these three (above) conflict, so you get to sort that out. ;) My suggestion is go with Boolean's idea and make the (alien/fantasy) game cultures totally foreign to the (human) PC, because this makes for a nice game dynamic where the PC and player start out equally ignorant and learn together. I also suggest that the science fiction and fantasy elements be put together into the same world, not separated like in _The Longest Journey_ because we want to be able to play them off of each other.
Stuff that fits together:
Terlenth - Genre - Science Fantasy
Cangor - Characters - Deep Characters
Estok - Characters - Characters with double lives and moral grey areas
TechnoGoth - Abilities - All abilites come from either tools, or are taught in some kind of school. Abilities should be used to overcome diffrent challenges, obstacles and puzzles.
Sunandshadow - Plot - Optional romance between PC and male minor villain
Boolean - Plot - Stories that make you think long after you have stopped playing the game. There should be moral issues that the player spends their spare time thinking about, and trying to figure out the intricate plot twists in the game.
TraderJack
- Value in theme: I want a good theme, something deep (maybe emotional self realization). I want a plot that immerses the character in a world with real emotion. I would also note that I would rather not [use] any corny surrealism or cliche morals.
- Bright projection: In conjuction with the above, I want to develop a game with emotional value, but still a cheery presence. You can have nice and humorous go hand in hand with depth (Tales of Symphonia, anyone?) without being a corny, cliche instance (FFXIII, nuf said).
- No World Domination. No one wants to save a world they have nothing to do with. Let's give people a game about people you an care about. It's easy to create feasible people that people can care about, as apposed to a whole world.
- Field action. Most RPGs have three screens. The World Map play, the Field, and the Battle. I would rather tone down time spent in battle and more time exploring and learning and meeting and immersing yourself in the world then constantly not knowing what's around the corner cause of some random battle.
So, the seed of our game design doc:
Writing Forum Collaborative Game
Statement of purpose: We, the members of the gamedev writing forum, will pool our talents to create a science-fantasy game story for a single player RPG with a branching story and multiple endings and optional romance. The game will feature deep, complex characters and pondering of moral ambiguity, but will maintain a positive tone. The worldbuilding will be vivid and immersive with mysteries for the player to uncover, tools forhim/her to master, and ablities for him/her to learn, because the PC will not start out with any inherent special abilities. The plot will be complex. Gameplay will minimize battle and maximize world exploration and puzzles.
[edit Added TechnoGoth :) ]
Anybody object to anything in there?
[Edited by - sunandshadow on September 1, 2004 10:48:45 AM]
This topic is closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Popular Topics
Advertisement