Adventure gay-mes...(ha! ha! such wit!)

[De-Communizer]

I think this is appropriate for this section, do shout angrily at me if it's not.

I like being creative (writing, doodling, and naturally, making games), and I like to be able to get a point across. Part of playing games is, I think, is to experience situations one doesn't get the opportunity to in real life, and like in literature, I think some of the best games are the ones that convey circumstances of emotional depth well.

Having quite a considerable number of friends and acquiantances of varying...ah...sexual persuasion, I keep having it suggested to me (repeatedly, at great length, to no end ad nauseam etc) that maybe I should have a bash at making a game about something a great deal of such individuals have as an emotional speed-bump in their lives. That is, coming out. Part of the reason they think I should do this is for a larger organisation, as a means of demonstrating to those who are feeling a little conflicted just how well it can turn out, or what potential hurdles there may be involved. Apparently, among the various LGBT communities I've been canvassing, the idea seems popular.

Of course, adventure game seems like the ideal format for such a tale - I can't see it carrying quite the same story as a platformer or an FPS - and those who are already experiencing such things have reacted positively towards the idea. I was wondering how appealling a game with this kind of concept sounds - playing through the stories of people coping with this, etc etc. It also strikes me as an interesting concept to help foster understanding of the situation to those who aren't going to have this as something they'll feel they need to do.

So: would you, the average gamer, play an adventure revolving around this situation?



P.S. No, I'm not gay, but I do have weirdo proclivities of my own.

[GarageGothic]

I think it's a great idea. I could easily see it working as a story/character interaction heavy game like those Japanese dating sims (without the hentai stuff). More traditional adventure puzzles might not fit in very well, so I definitely think the "interactive story" format is the way to go.
A simulation approach where who you decide to disclose your sexuality to, and how you do it, changes their attitude to you (and hence your options) would make things nicely non-linear and allow plenty of replay value. It's also a way to add depth to your NPCs - the reactions of your friend, family member, co-worker or teacher may surprise you. Perhaps that macho gym teacher turns out to be more sympathetic that you would ever have thought.

Good luck with the project! I look forward to see what comes out of it.

[Darth Mandarb]

I think it's an interesting idea...

Just out of curiosity; would you play as a male or female or be able to choose one or the other?

If the player character is a male; I think if it was handled [light-hearted] as a complex puzzle to solve (as GG mentioned) I might find it worth playing.

Now ... if you play as a female and can visit the girls shower-room as often as you want I would definitely play it!

I kid I kid!

It's a touchy subject for many still in the closet (I have a friend that is 30+ and still hides it from his family; though I'm sure they've figured it out) so it could be tricky to find a game-play/plot that wouldn't piss people off. 

Having never had the problem of "coming out of the closet" (or being gay in general ... well there was that one time ... but it was a 3rd grade thing) I can't really offer any advice on how to handle it.

I'd be interested to see what you go with.

[Ghost]

Hmmm, would be fun to have something like that in the database- and you're right, an adventure game is a great "vehicle" to transport a coming-out story. I remember some ancient (really ancient) threads involving similar ideas; one of them was supposed to be a "playable diary" of a man who fell in love with his neighbour (male, that is), and the "puzzles" were basically a set of "dating attempts".
Go for it, by all means!

PS: Darth has a great point here- chosing between male and female main character would be a great way to make the game "extra accessible".

[ThreeOhFour]

Have you tried playing this game yet? It may not be the most difficult or epic game out there, but it does have a (reasonably light hearted) take on the issue you're thinking of covering here.

It's an interesting idea for a story that hasn't been done too many times, as far as I can tell. Good luck .

[zabnat]

I think this is a good idea. And even further, think about the size of target audience if you do as Darth suggested - be able to choose with different genders. I mean some people (guys) might feel uncomfortable playing the game from the male point of view, but might feel more comfortable playing as female even when the story would be basically the same (not to meantion those shower-room scenes). And I think if you pull it of with a game-play/plot that wouldn't piss people off, it will be pretty bland. I think it would be better to go with some pissing people off way.

[Dualnames]

ShonenAiGuy..that was a manly mags effort..

[SSH]

Interesting how the response to this has differed from the guy looking for ideas about Christian games...

[Technocrat]

Interesting how the response to this has differed from the guy looking for ideas about Christian games...

I guess good old-fashioned anal-sex is less contentious than church?

[Akatosh]

No, you can't do this! I know some people think differently about this, but homosexuality is too horrible to be the topic of a game! Not only is it clearly banned in Leviticus 18:22,  Leviticus 20:13, Romans 1:26-27, I Corinthians 6:9 and I Timothy 1:8-11, it's also horribly unnatural! It would be nice if people were a little more sceptical about this!

Happy now? 

[Eggie]

How exactly would you turn coming out into a puzzle?

I'm assuming you're planning for this game to be fairly realistic, ruling out cartoony contrivances like having the character only be able to come out by putting together a one-man production of Oklahoma for his parents and singing what he needs to say to them in the second act.

I think it's an interesting idea to play as a character in this situation, I'm not sure it could be the focus of an entire game.

[SSH]

I'm assuming you're planning for this game to be fairly realistic, ruling out cartoony contrivances like having the character only be able to come out by putting together a one-man production of Oklahoma for his parents and singing what he needs to say to them in the second act.

We know we belong to the land (yo-ho)
And the land we belong to is grand!
And when we say
Yeeow! Aye-yip-aye-yo-ee-ay!
We're only sayin'
You're doin' fine, Oklahoma!
Mum and Dad, I'm gay!


I'm just waiting for the scene in BJ8 where Ben realised that it was Simon who he really loved, not Alice.

[De-Communizer]

No, you can't do this! I know some people think differently about this, but homosexuality is too horrible to be the topic of a game! Not only is it clearly banned in Leviticus 18:22,  Leviticus 20:13, Romans 1:26-27, I Corinthians 6:9 and I Timothy 1:8-11, it's also horribly unnatural! It would be nice if people were a little more sceptical about this!

Happy now? 

Finally, some controversy!


My plan was indeed to allow a choice of gender to start with. As Darth and Zabnat say, it might allow those who aren't comfortable with one or the other get to see the experience. Plus, it allows for replay! Although it might add a host of complication to it, I was considering also offering a choice for what to come out *as*, after all coming out as bi is a whole different kettle of trauma to coming out transgendered.

@ Eggie:
I was thinking of making it a story that takes place over normal, day-to-day events over a period of time (a week, a fortnight, a month, whatever), with a major event at the end for closure (a big party, birthday, one man production of oklahoma), and throughout you can choose when and to whom you open yourself, and depending on how you've been acting so far, they might react positively or...otherwise. So, much of the "puzzle" I suppose would be making the situation as positive as possible.

I'd like to do it in a semi-light-hearted, humourous way, but stil retain a kind of depth to it. And besides, if I wasn't offending *someone*, I'm sure I wouldn't have been doing it right!

Also, the link for "Walk in the Park" doesn't seem to work 

[m0ds]

In this day and age it seems like a pretty normal route of storyline to go down, I'm sure you could have fun with it. Funny though, five years ago there only seemed to be gay men. Nowadays there only seems to be gay women. Have fun

[LimpingFish]

I think this would work better as a multiple-choice visual novel, where the player can influence how the character deals with coming out, rather than a game with puzzles as such. Having a number of different paths and resolutions would help the games replay value.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I'd first question the motives of these friends of yours.  Is it because they would personally like to play a game of this nature, or is it because they want to force players to endure experiences similar to their own?  If it's the former I'd definitely say to go for it, but if it's the latter then it's merely a social tool rather than a game, and you will no doubt encounter people with no interest in the content.

[Dualnames]

Also, the link for "Walk in the Park" doesn't seem to work 
[/quote]

Right click save as..it works.

[De-Communizer]

Also, the link for "Walk in the Park" doesn't seem to work 

Right click save as..it works.

"Internet Explorer cannot download games.php from www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk"


Not for me, it doesn't. Seems the link tries to go to a yahoo page that doesn't exist.

[creatorlars]

This is a great idea!  While in film school I studied new queer cinema extensively, and tons of these plots and stories would make excellent adventure games.  After all (and feel free to disagree...) both adventure games and a growing mainstream gay sensibility/awareness were both big parts of early 90's fringe cultures -- and the 90's are coming back again.  You wouldn't have to focus entirely on coming out as gay with this, either... I always thought Gregg Araki's films (in particular the more nonlinear ones like Totally F*cked Up and Nowhere) would make really great adventure games.  They were all about teen drama and sexuality with lots of different characters facing different issues.  But I'm a Cheerleader! is another great coming out story that would make a great adventure game.  At the very least, those films are all really good to look at for inspiration on this game concept, if you haven't seen them.

[GarageGothic]

Right click save as..it works.

Actually, no it doesn't. The saved file - although named awalkinthepark.zip - is only a Yahoo error page with the message "Sorry, the page you requested was not found."