3 Comments

• 
  William Bowers - 14 years ago

  I like where this is going. I just have a few thoughts.

  I like that NPCs respond to things like lies the hero tells and the clothes he is wearing. The usefulness of that can be illustrated in an example:

  After the hero wakes up in the hospital after the train crash he'll be setting out to find answers. He will soon find that not too many people want to talk to him because his clothes are dirty and torn. He'll have to find new clothes before he'll be able to get any answers from anybody that might know something. He was robbed just after the train crash, so he won't have any money. This quest will require him to get money and then purchase clothes, or do something for someone in return for clothes. This job he'll have to do could be any number of things: the tried-and-true "rid our village of some monsters" job, the "deliver this package to some person" job, the "deliver this message to another town" job, etc. The point is that a smart AI opens up storyline possibilities.

  As far as the train crash goes, maybe this is implied by the fact that the hero was on a train, but I think it's crucial to the story that the city he's in when he wakes up is a place he's never been to. That way no one (probably) will know him. The story will have to advance somehow, so maybe somebody in that city will know something about the crash or send him on a quest that will "luckily" lead him to information about the crash and about who he his. If that's what happens, our hero might soon discover that nothing is coincidence, that somebody is out there pulling the strings.

  Of course, that's just a thought. I'm trying to take in everything that has been discussed up until this point. The focus doc mentioned something about the hero's story playing a non-critical role in the overarching story of the game world, which might negate the previous idea.

  I also like the fact that the hero has nightmares. If we have the resources, we could use that to play, for instance, moving comic-style animated sequences that would serve to further the story, give more "character" to the characters, and give us a chance to show the world in a more vibrant manor.

  I do have a couple of questions as well. You said the hero has access to every part of the game world, but what makes up that game world? You mentioned that the country where the action takes place is secluded from the rest of the world. Does that mean that no other countries beside that one will play a part in this game? Or has that not been decided yet?

  Also, the doc says that battles will not be an important part of the game. I'm wondering, then, what is their purpose for existing in the game at all? I'm not suggesting that you can't have battles in games without them playing a crucial role. I'm just wondering what role they play in _this_ game.

  My biggest question though is, what really is the point of this game/story? Is it to discover who you once were? Is it to stop some sort of conspiracy (the Community of the Faithful comes to mind...)? Is it to right the wrongs of your past? Is it let go of your past and find a new "you", maybe by helping the people around you? In other words, what is going to keep the player playing? What is their motivation?

  Anyway, I voted yes.

• 
  Andrzej Giniewicz - 14 years ago

  See http://love2d.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1215&p=13477#p13477 for focus, it's in attachment in pdf format.

• 
  Andrzej Giniewicz - 14 years ago

  Read current focus. Game has no name yet, in focus it is THEGAME for easy substitution. Vote "Yes" or "No", but for "No" vote to count you must explain in comment below, otherwise we cannot fix it. I remind you, there is no such thing as voting "No" for stuff that was already voted and picked by majority, so sorry - design goals are set in stone. Rest of process is described in forum. To remind you, that's what we voted before and majority agreed on:

  "We are making 2D RPG game in steampunk setting in a world, where magic
  is fully fused with technology (magic described in terms of technology
  or other way around). In hero or player, during and after playing the
  game we want to trigger emotions like surprise, rejection and hope.
  Most important role in gameplay building will lead exploration, NPC
  interactions and story. We will use separate detailed tactical view
  for fights, but travel and location exploration will use consistent
  view using trimetric projection, because of size of the world part of
  it will be automatically generated. The general stylistics of game
  will be eastern flavoured realistic comics style. Hero awakes for
  short while on train crash site, he manage to notice he is highly
  wounded and someone is trying to rob him. Soon he looses conciousness
  again to wake up in hospital with amnesia. He is tormented with bad
  dreams, soon he starts his seek for his own past, uncovering his
  criminal deeds conflicting with his good subconscious side. His dreams
  become longer and more clear - seems that he was one that caused train
  crash. Police starts to take interest in him, but he still cannot
  remember anything other than causing the crash. Was it really him who
  did it and is there something behind it?"