"My Game Idea"

[Kire]

Here's an idea Xeno and I have tossed around but I haven't made the effort to make the "trailer" for the game as to pitch it. Let me know what you guys think of the idea.

Have you ever watched a movie and hoped for a different ending, or wished certain things took place within the storyline? Well, what if a story ran its course within a contained setting, and you could essentially play God and manipulate the environment to change the course of the story? Say someone is killed early on in the story. What if that person got locked in one of the rooms beforehand, or he was buried under a sudden collapse of oil barrels? However, your action might not be enough to change the course of history, and change whatever that person had set out to do. Because of this, you would also have complete control of rewinding and fast forwarding time.

The whole fun of this concept is cause and effect of the characters within the storyline by manipulating the environment and time. The more you play with the situation given to you, more of the story will unravel concerning each character's true intentions and just what happened with the story you're manipulating. Part of the fun would also be unlocking all of the different endings and the entire direction of the storyline.

I haven't thought of what the story would be, and I know it would take a lot of man hours to complete, but it's one of my favorite ideas I've had for a game. Be sure to tell me what you think, and also feel free to share your original game ideas.

[Red Dragon]

Re: "My Game Idea"

Sounds liike The Movies, except only editing mode.

[Kire]

Re: "My Game Idea"

No, in The Movies, you create the story, props, whatever. Here, the story is there, and you manipulate the events that happen by manipulating the environment. If anything, it has more in common with The Sims than The Movies. Using the environment physics and some limited machinery fuctions (power locking doors, making lights short out) would also determine what happens next.

It would probably be best if I just illustrate it in a trailer if I ever want to pitch it since it's very hard to describe.

[John Mora]

Re: "My Game Idea"

Sounds like an expanded version of Shadow of Destiny.

[The Dark Jester]

Re: "My Game Idea"

Sorta like Shadows Of Destiny or Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter?


(DAMN YOU MORA!!!)

[facts]

Re: "My Game Idea"

So basically what your saying is:

You want to make a game where things in the future are decided by what you do in the past? Like "If character A died then character B would be sad" and "If character A lived character B would be happy." So it is a whole cause and effect game? Where one decision decides hundreds of others?

If you can't understand what I am saying have you ever heard someone say if you touch something in the past then it will change the future?

[Caciss]

Re: "My Game Idea"

PITCH IT KIRE.

[Kire]

Re: "My Game Idea"

I guess sort of like Shadows of Destiny (similar concept), but you wouldn't have a character as much as overseeing and manipulating situations. The interface would probably be much like The Sims, and then it would let you know when something is happening, so that you could cut over to the event and you could watch the event through scripted cameras for dramatic effect. Of course you can also just watch the event and what's going on around it just with your free form camera.

Facts, I think you have the right idea. Say so and so dies, and that causes one character to be sad as opposed to how they felt if that person didn't die, and it causes them to take a different course of action, thus changing the direction of the storyline. If you locked someone in a room, they might panic and call a friend who would go to help them that was on their way to fix a computer malfunction, and that could accidentily send the ship into warp speed (assuming that they're on a ship, but you get the idea).

[TechStorm]

Re: "My Game Idea"

This is a neat idea. Are you a software developer? 'cause you kind of sound like one to me for some reason.

There are several possible directions to take this in. You could make this into a puzzle-action kind of game, with little or even no character development. Every level would be a different movie. That's one useful thought, because if you plan to make this for real, you could start from that angle.

The rewind/fast-forward is core to this concept. You could be an outside force that views the movie at any time frame, and then modifies in a God-like fashion (i.e., crates being moved around without any actual character doing the movement). Or, you could be a character within the environment. You could somehow travel across time, and modify the environment subject to the limitations of the character. Here, the player character may be in a place and location just to observe it, but inadvertently (or even merely be presence-- i.e., unavoidably) modify the environment. This can be used to create clever puzzles. Imagine a shed, for example, that the player has come to the conclusion something inside it is essential to the solution of a problem. The player needs to observe what is in it, but he knows that to enter it directly is wrong, i.e., because he knows that someone is in there and the person should not witness the player character going in for some reason, etc. So the player needs to devise a way to observe the inside of the shed without entering it, perhaps by using cameras, positioning itself in a specific place in a specific point of the day to look in, etc.

[TechStorm]

Re: "My Game Idea"

I guess sort of like Shadows of Destiny (similar concept), but you wouldn't have a character as much as overseeing and manipulating situations. The interface would probably be much like The Sims, and then it would let you know when something is happening, so that you could cut over to the event and you could watch the event through scripted cameras for dramatic effect. Of course you can also just watch the event and what's going on around it just with your free form camera.

Facts, I think you have the right idea. Say so and so dies, and that causes one character to be sad as opposed to how they felt if that person didn't die, and it causes them to take a different course of action, thus changing the direction of the storyline. If you locked someone in a room, they might panic and call a friend who would go to help them that was on their way to fix a computer malfunction, and that could accidentily send the ship into warp speed (assuming that they're on a ship, but you get the idea).

OK, I see that the player should not in-character. Personally, I say this is a cool idea. I want to play it already. Will it be released on the Wii?

[facts]

Re: "My Game Idea"

OK, I see that the player should not in-character. Personally, I say this is a cool idea. I want to play it already. Will it be released on the Wii?

It should be.

[DarkwingChuck]

Re: "My Game Idea"

Gameplay-wise I think this is kinda like my idea "Ever So Humble" where you play as a house and you affect the mood of the family living in it by controlling the objects in the house. Except your game has time manipulation and sounds like it's more about seeing how your changes effect the story rather than mine being about trying to make a certain outcome. I like it.

[Zieg Rauros]

Re: "My Game Idea"

Black and White + Prince Of Persia + Sims + Ephemeral Fantasia + Harvest Moon ending system?

My head exploded.

[John Mora]

Re: "My Game Idea"

Gameplay-wise I think this is kinda like my idea "Ever So Humble" where you play as a house and you affect the mood of the family living in it by controlling the objects in the house. Except your game has time manipulation and sounds like it's more about seeing how your changes effect the story rather than mine being about trying to make a certain outcome. I like it.

There was a game like that in Japan. You'd haunt a house and have the family react to you.

[The Dark Jester]

Re: "My Game Idea"



What would be the goal of the game though?

Who would the player be?

God?