Characters developed by the player?

[veryweirdguy]

Right, it seems people have been discussing a lot of ideas here lately(see here & here), so I thought I'd express an idea that I've had for a while....

Basically, it involves the plot of an adventure game developing depending on HOW the player acts up 'til that point.

Let me explain (I don't have a lot of AGS scripting experience - or any scripting experience at all - so I don't know if this is possible yet, but bear with me):

Say your main character is talking to another character, & he has two dialogue options:

Option 1: "Hello, Steve, how are you today?"

Option 2: "Oh crap, I was hoping I wouldn't see you today"

You see? Quite a contrast.

Now, let's say the game has a sort of hidden built in variable (let's call it 'x'). And, for arguments sake, at the start of hte game x = 50.

If you were to choose to say option 1, that would add a few points on to x, thus making x higher than 50.

If you were to choose to say option 2, that would take a few points off x, thus making x lower than 50.

As you can see, x is defined by how the player treats other characters in the game (& could also be applied to how he/she interqacts with the environment & tries to solve puzzles). This could lead to some interesting situations later in the game - if x is WELL over 50, it means that the player has been a 'good boy/girl' throughout the game, & so the plot will reflect this, making it pretty non-linear. Obviously, if x less than 50, then the player will be more inclined towards the 'evil' end of the spectrum.

Example:

At the end of the game, the badguy is running away from his hideout, the goodguy spots him & starts chasing. Eventually, he corners him. At this point, two things can occur:

(x > 50) - He arrests the badguy & is hailed as a hero. He gets the girl (or whatever) & lives happily ever after.

(x < 50) - He shoots the badguy & gets arrested fr murder.

Obviously, given time, the game makers could come up with much greater ideas than this - after all, this is only an example.

It could also work for other things - is the player happy/angry, clever/stupid, gay/straight?

I think, if done correctly, this idea could be implemented so the entire plot is developed in the same manner, & the game would be non-linear. Players would want to play through your game several times to try & be a better/worse person, or whatever. Obviously it would take a lot of scripting work, but I would still be interested to see if it would work.

So, what do you think? Thought, anyone? Is this possible? More importantly, is it plausible?

[Gilbert]

* Gilbot V7000a was actually planning on some game with similar features, but as he didn't make any games (yet), so...

[Ginny]

I've been thinking of things like that for a while, but I think morecomplexity can helpeven more. Good and evil is a bit cliche. Anyway, I'll think of something and post it later on. Just wanted to point out you shouldn't use 50, I see no reaso. Just set it to 0 and add or subtract. It's easier to see opposites with negative andpositive numbers.

[|Alky|]

That was what I wanted to do, on a larger scale...
A game where you start out as a journalist in a fictional south east Asian country (like Vietnam in the 50s or Indonesia in the 70s/60s), and had to investigate and report.
How you treated people was going to influence how people thought of you (eg whether rebels would kidnap or salute you; Whether you'd be welcomed into the American embassy or roughed up by the marines outside, whether marketplace informants would help you, and suchlike) and how the events in the country occured. There was also gonna be sequences where you would have to summarise the text of each weeks article to your editor(which could include facts you discovered, and opinions which further develop the character), a whole series of love interests, and a money based inventory, but I don't have the time or know how to make a game like that.. >_<

[HillBilly]

Something like good santa/bad santa? haha, that game was alot of fun. Toh, I think those games are better short.

[DanClarke]

Isnt this a similar system to kyrandia 3, where you played malcom? Its an interesting concept, but effectively means making the same game a few times, if you understand what i mean?

[Redwall]

Most RPGs work like this, Knights of the Old Republic being a good example with "Dark Side / Light Side" points that change your character's fate.