Singing Dancing Moose on 12/8/2009 at 11:14
Quote Posted by Sulphur
Okay. SDM, you have a LOT of fuckin' explaining to do. :mad:
oh are you talking about the time when i tagged every thread chakats
dave got mad because i wouldn't stop tagging threads chakats
anyway i'm looking forward to the police academy game, the guy who makes airplane noises could probably stand a chance to reprise that role
Sulphur on 12/8/2009 at 18:34
Yeah, he could like even do the sound effects for all the chakat sex it's going to have in it thanks to you.
Singing Dancing Moose on 13/8/2009 at 15:21
i did what i felt i had to do
someone was already using the tags to troll dethtoll full-time, i was just a little more ambitious
i tried to troll the entire forum . . . and lost
Stitch on 24/11/2009 at 19:57
BUHBUHBUHBUHMPAH
Okay, got another one, popped in my head the other night when I was thinking that the title "Torchlight" promised a more evocative game than the actual game that is titled Torchlight.
The basic concept would be the player--more or less your average everyman--is trapped underground during some routine activity--caving?--and, finding the path back to safety completely sealed off, then proceeds further underground at which point he/she stumbles upon a previously unimagined underground society of creatures, an ancient race that has dwelled beneath us since time began. The story would operate on two levels: first, the story of this player discovering and slowly uncovering the details of this alien society, but secondly the struggles of this society that inevitably ensnare the player.
The general idea behind the society is for some reason they've been forced to abandon certain cities and pull further underground due to some great threat--something that should be ridiculously terrifying, of course--and the discovery of one of these abandoned ghost cities would function as the player's introduction to the existence of this society. Just imagine following a cave deeper and deeper into the ground until you notice that the cave seems increasingly carved and then suddenly the walls open into a huge cavern with dead buildings of alien architecture, the only light source present being your own.
Gameplay itself could take several approaches, from a tightly scripted first person narrative that sweeps you along to a more open, Elder Scrolls-style RPG in this underground realm. Whatever the approach, the following would be crucial elements:
* A tangible feeling of being cut off from the normal as you progress, trapped, into somewhere far outside your comfort zone. You are trespassing into a foreign world in which you do not belong.
* A portrait of a once-wealthy ancient civilizaton now in decline. A race of creatures that were once untouchable royalty have been reduced to fighting for survival. Most cities are abandoned, those few remaining are decaying and full of citizens nursing a deep sense of loss.
* Effective and careful use of light. The game should thrive on the tension of where your light source ends and the swallowing darkness begins.
Obviously, the game would hinge on mood and therefore some mechanics should be in place to heavily encourage the player to proceed slowly in a manner that more closely reflects reality (for example, the moment of discovery listed above would fall flat if the player just ran into the chamber full speed ahead like a Doom marine looking for a demon to kill). But, of course, at some point the "holy shit" nature of discovery would give way to a more rapidly moving story as the player gets acclimated with the surroundings and the alien society.
The game could end multiple ways, really. Maybe the end has the player playing a pivotal role in ensuring the survival of this ancient race--that'd be the obvious "good" ending. Maybe if the developers wanted to go darker the player could save the race only to discover something horrible about them, and then be forced to try to stop the very creatures so recently befriended. Whatever the case, at some point the player manages to return to the surface and leaves his/her weeks and months spent in darkness behind.
So yeah, there's my "Torchlight."
Sulphur on 24/11/2009 at 20:42
It's a great whole bunch of ideas. The pacing and the balance is going to have to be pitched pretty damn perfectly throughout, though.
You wouldn't want it getting too 'dark' too soon, or too consistently dreary, or too actiony, or too exploratory. And there has to be a way to consistently pipe enough plot/storyline while you're stumbling around in the darkness to keep players interested. Preferably without artificially constraining their freedom to traipse about and discover things on their own.
Sounds hella difficult. But could be very frigging cool if done right.
catbarf on 25/11/2009 at 01:55
Stitch, that sounds a heck of a lot like At the Mountains of Madness, which is a very creepy story, to say the least.
Scots Taffer on 25/11/2009 at 04:43
Quote Posted by Stitch
My second concept has been bouncing around for a few years and is far more specific: an adventure/horror game set in a kid's summer camp environment.
The way you can develop the earlier stages further to provide interest and amusement beyond creating a buddy system and learning some rote skills necessary later in the game is to do what kids do best - misbehave.
Camp leaders signify the boundaries of the camp and the acceptable behaviours within those boundaries - your aim is to have fun whilst exploring/pushing those boundaries as far as possible and hint at what may come in later acts.
For instance, there could be YE OLDE DISUSED MINE SHAFT that through an escalation of dares amongst friends (or to gain points as a "leader" of the group) you have to enter - not only does this provide an activity to achieve, but there's real danger inherent in the environment, danger in the fact that you are breaking the rules of your camp supervisors and risk some form of punishment (another game mechanic perhaps or diet RPG points system), but then there's also the spookiness of that environment that you can play with, what's down there and if you're caught or otherwise after you succeed, you then find out at a later campfire story the mystery of the mines and some spooky story adds to the whole thing in layers.
Similarly night dares and so on, swim in the lake in darkness, find something you stashed earlier and so on.
Don't forget red herrings or multiple villains, there can be a truly lovecraftian horror as well as a person warped by that horror perpetuating and continuing events.
Stitch on 25/11/2009 at 15:37
Quote Posted by catbarf
Stitch, that sounds a heck of a lot like At the Mountains of Madness, which is a very creepy story, to say the least.
My idea is probably slightly more inspired by The Silver Chair--at least, my memory of it as a kid as opposed to the actual book itself--but there'd certainly be some dash of Lovecraft in there.
Quote Posted by Scots Taffer
wonderful things
You get it
perfectly, let's collab :cool:
Jason Moyer on 26/11/2009 at 07:19
Anyone here read Gadget Factor when they were a kid? I'd want to make a game similar to the one they make in that book, within practical limitations - a two-player universe simulator pitting god against entropy.
Malf on 26/11/2009 at 07:38
I have an idea for a game that has a typically violent FPS first level, but the levels after that consist of you playing the lives of the enemies killed right up until you shot/stabbed/electrocuted/bludgeoned them.
You know, getting up in the morning, reading the newspaper over breakfast with the family, seeing the kids off to school, commuting to work, etc.
It would only work as a two-level game, although variety could be added by the second level being randomly chosen from the lives of the individuals killed, where each enemy has a fully fleshed-out back story.
