I'm intending to make a computer game, and would like some feedback on the core idea.

[YesConsiderably]

Hello. I have made a couple of games using the Reality Factory Game Engine. Nothing worth mentioning; it was more a means of getting accustomed to the interface, but now i feel as though i'm ready to try and create something great. Before i start properly, i'd love to get some thoughts on the core concept behind the game.

The game itself sees the player take on the role of a suave, sophisticated and very handsome man with a genius level intellect - me, in a third person action adventure roleplaying game. You will earn experience points throughout the game? but, as you?re playing as me, your stats start off maxxed out.

You can?t ?level up?, but you can ?level down? by making bad decisions throughout the game. The objective is to successfully navigate the key moments of my life without f*cking yourself up too much that you can?t survive the finale chapters of the game.

I am trying to think if something like this has ever been done before. Are there any games that really punish the player for making poor decisions?

I understand that in many ways, this idea goes against everything that video games stand for (you should become more powerful as you play; not the other way around) but... i feel this is an avenue worth exploring.

Ignoring the fact that i am making a game about myself (a superfluous detail at the moment), what do you think?

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[Kurokami]

Hello. I have made a couple of games using the Reality Factory Game Engine. Nothing worth mentioning; it was more a means of getting accustomed to the interface, but now i feel as though i'm ready to try and create something great. Before i start properly, i'd love to get some thoughts on the core concept behind the game.

The game itself sees the player take on the role of a suave, sophisticated and very handsome man with a genius level intellect - me, in a third person action adventure roleplaying game. You will earn experience points throughout the game? but, as you?re playing as me, your stats start off maxxed out.

You can?t ?level up?, but you can ?level down? by making bad decisions throughout the game. The objective is to successfully navigate the key moments of my life without f*cking yourself up too much that you can?t survive the finale chapters of the game.

I am trying to think if something like this has ever been done before. Are there any games that really punish the player for making poor decisions?

I understand that in many ways, this idea goes against everything that video games stand for (you should become more powerful as you play; not the other way around) but... i feel this is an avenue worth exploring.

Ignoring the fact that i am making a game about myself (a superfluous detail at the moment), what do you think?

So long as it is well thought out I think the concept of hindering one's self by making poor decisions is great, though in my opinion it should be situational rather than an integer. Regardless it sounds interesting. (And grats on the self esteem)

 

[Daniel Cygnus]

I love the idea. It sounds like with the right development and implementation, it'd be awesome. I think one drawback would be if the game was too long, you'd have to do the entire thing over again if you fucked up too badly.

 

[Pielikey]

Sounds good to me. IF, you can pull it off. I've seen billions of "I'VE GOT A GRATE IDEA 4 A GAM!!1!11eleven!11" topics in various forums and usually they don't get past the design document phase.

Good luck, though, I'd really like to see an idea like this in a game.

 

[Vincenzo DeLuca]

Sounds great, but i think you might end up in the same trap as a game called The Last Remnant. It's a role playing game that actively discourages levelling. So if you fight monsters, you may or may not increase in skill level while they can actually end up out-levelling you as a result due to the Battle Rank system. If you kill low level monsters for example you get next to no skill increase but your Battle Rank still goes up, and the higher it gets the stronger the monsters get. It can get to the stage where you cannot defeat the final boss because your Battle Rank is already too high and you can't earn any skill points from monsters. You end up having to restart the entire game.

I think you have to consider whether it is a role playing game or action adventure. If you are trying to shoot baddies and you have low accuracy because you made some bad choices then it's going to get frustrating, but if it's more focused on character interaction and people like you less because you screwed up your choices and it's harder to get them to do what you want for example it could work pretty well.

 

[scnj]

Seems fun. I think you should spoof achievements too. Like, start the player off with 1000 points, then hand out negative achievements for terrible decisions.

 

[Mr.Kitetsu]

i like it
i assume these key moments will be more than just being super sneaky??

 

[YesConsiderably]

Thank you all for your input.

The story is absolutely essential. I have penned a basic plot, but like i say, at the moment its a superfluous detail. If i decide to go ahead with the game, i will consider coming up with something else (though i have always wanted to create my autobiography via computer game).

The training level of the game in its current guise, will see the player control me during my school years. When i was at school, a kid named Michael stole my Viper yo-yo. One challenge in the game will be to get it back, which can be done in a number of ways.

1. Simply walk up to Michael, kick his ass, and take the yo-yo.
2. Try to steal it from his backpack, unnoticed.
3. Pay the Cannon Brothers your lunch money to kick his ass (even harder) and retrieve the yo-yo on your behalf. This is what i actually did.

Taking option 1 will negatively affect your "authority" attribute, which during the training levels impacts how adults react to you. A lower score will result in tighter attention, cutting off certain methods of solving future challenges.

 

[RDYoungey]

would be better if he stole your lord of the rings karting cartridge from your game boy

 

[Trivun]

Very interesting idea, and I'd play something like that, just for the experience and to see if it works well. As a fellow game maker and creative type myself (though I'm more of a writer and filmmaker than anything else), I love to see experimental projects, they are true creativity rather than the usual formulae every other 'creative' type follows. And this seems to be one hell of an experimental idea.

Definitely go for it, and good luck to you. When it's done, I'd also be more than happy to alpha test for you, or beta test, if you'll need people at that stage .

 

[Folio]

Hmmm, okay let's see here.

The concept of leveling is based on experience. So I have to ask: What makes... 'you' so ill experienced when doing something wrong? Yes, games punish us when we do it wrong. It's mostly called: dying. Wario Land 2 took a different approach: broke.

How do you challenge the player? If everything is at it's max, how does the player learn? How does it keep him/her entertained at level 1 and still entertained at level 3?

How do you keep the player from 'anti-grinding'? It might not be such a big deal. Restarting the game at a safepoint is not fun if the safepoint is far off the last place the player was. But they will try to avoid losing points. Punish them by thinking about the concequences. Or create an autosave they can't go back to.

And last: Yes, every gamer wants to make a game. (Hell, I love WarioWare D.I.Y so much.) And everyone wants to be in their own creation. (Makes a comic about himself, calls it: Noutism. Plus wanted to make a game called: Inside Joke.)
But how will you put the style together? You do have a style, don't you? How will it look like? Are you rethinking in making a character that makes a little more sence?

I'm not trying to put you in doubts, but if Yahtzee sees this he might not just question it, he just blurts out everything that could've given a second thought.

 

[YesConsiderably]

Using myself as a character makes a lot of sense. I have an interesting story to tell, and this is the medium i have chosen to do it.

I have an art style in mind, yes. I'm going to try and hand draw everything. Different stages of my life will have different drawing styles.

The short baby scene will be done in crayon.
The school years in felt tip.
The adult years in coloured pencil.
The short twilight years scene in water colour.

 

[MorteTheSkull]

It sounds vaguely similar to the concept of Soul Nomad (the leveling down thing), but overall it's pretty unique.

 

[YesConsiderably]

I think I'll be the first one to ask;
What happens when you de-level below 1?

There is no level 1. Each attribute starts with a score of ten points. Taking certain actions will cause your scores to degrade. When some statistics fall below a certain level, it becomes very difficult (and sometimes impossible) to take certain routes when solving problems.

In my yo-yo example... your "authority" attribute will fall if you choose to beat up the kid that stole your yo-yo. A future challenge in the training stage will be to ace a test, which you could do by cheating.

However, if your authority score is too low, the teachers will pay extra close attention to you, making this impossible to do.

As the game progresses the challenges will become grander.

Grammar and spelling aside, thanks for your input.

 

[Hiphophippo]

Sounds interesting, but also sounds like one of those ideas that sounds great in theory but falls apart during implementation.

I think it's a good idea, but it needs a good game supporting it, it can't just stand on its own. What's going to happen in the game, for instance? Is the game going to have an overarching narrative that ties it all together, or is it just going to be disconnected events?

Like I said, it's a good idea, but you need to develop it more.

However, make it lighthearted and satirical, perhaps satirize RPG games as a whole, and maybe you could make a Tim Schafer esque masterpiece. You just need to make sure it's all a cohesive whole, not just a bunch of good ideas with nothing to gel them together.

I hate that you're so active on these forums. You ninja my posts all the time. Clearly it's a conspiracy.

But yes, *this* /grumble

 

[The Procrastinated End]

Depends on if you make it fun or not