New Type of Game!!!!!

[esper]

THAT'S RIGHT!!! I have invented a NEW TYPE OF GAME!!!!

Actually, as Solomon says, "There's nothing new under the sun..." There have been other games like it, I guess... In the eighties there was some game called "Who shot the President" or something where you had to find out who really killed Kennedy, and they offered a million dollar prize to the first person who won the game and told them about it... And I guess online puzzle games like NotPr0n and frve-whatever are kind of similar too... Oh well, here goes:

The idea is simple, yet, I believe, quite cool. I am going to make another ESPER game (remember Town on the Edge of Darkness?) where you play a paranormal/occult investigator. I very well may even throw in kind of a character creation system where you can make your own investigator, even though you would probably still only get the one character appearance.... Anyway... here's the catch...

The game would come with a zipped folder. In that folder would be more zipped folders, each of them password encrypted. As you go through the game and uncover evidence, you would get the password to open the folders in question to retrieve the evidence. You may then have to finagle around with it, such as clear or brighten a photo in photoshop or slow down or reverse an audio file, in order to get the evidence you need. You might also get internet shortcuts that will take you to websites you can use to help solve the puzzle, and my own site, www.theespers.org, which has a wealth of information on the paranormal, supernatural, and occult, will have sections devoted to use in the game.

Ã,  Ã, For example: You come across some weird writing in the game at the scene of a murder. You take a photograph of it, and when you do, the game tells you to OPEN EVIDENCE1.ZIP WIH THE PASSWORD/USERNAME ENOCHIAN:TRANSYUGGOTHIAN. You open it to find the photograph, but it is very dark. You then put it into Photoshop (or GIMP, since it's free), to lighten it up, and see some additional letters you would not have seen before. Inside the folder is also a link to the page on www.theespers.org where you can search for the page on occult scriptology. Going there, you find out the script is druidic Ogham and can transliterate it into what the message really means.

Ã,  Ã, So then, I guess my idea is this: rather than having an adventure game with puzzles that don't seem to make any sense (take pink hairbrush and tie rope to it, then swing it from the balcony in order to attract the Flamboyantly Gay Pigeon that will give you the key you need to progress) the game is based on your own intelligence and ability to do research and uncover puzzles.

What do you guys think, and is there anybody with enough faith in this idea to help me out???Ã,  Have you ever seen a game like this, and if so, what did they do that I can avoid? What would you do to make it better, or would you even bother making such a crappy-sounding game in the first place? Let me know.

[Nikolas]

To me this sounds as an original enough idea. The only thing is the atmosphere you will have to create in the game.

Can you imagine eg. Farenheit (just crossed my mind from the other thread). Excelent music, graphics, generall atmospher and all of the suddent, you have to quit the game, pop into internet explorer, open locked zipped folders...

It seems a bit boring and spoiler to do it all the time.

BUT for a single puzzle or for a couple of times to have this kind of thing, for an adventure game it is just great!

[Wretched]

 Have you played this?
ImagePuz

I actually had a similar idea this month to write a joke game 'the hardest adventure game ever' using some of the ideas in that game.

I think someone posted a few weeks ago about having a game in their city where you had to go and find 'evidence' of clues in real life.

Basically, I just like the whole 'out of the box' idea which incorparates all such games.

p.s. Shame your chalk game didn't make it

[esper]

Yeah, about that chalk game... I actually had almost finished it, and it just was not doing very well. In fact, it sucked. I'm glad I din't make it anyways, because it wouldn't have been able to stand up to Crave.

Didn't harryhouse say he was going to go in, too???

Nik: I thought about that. You can always ALT-TAB, or play windowed, but the windowed thing would take out some of the immersion. You can have AGS open a browser directly to a specified web site, though, can't you?

[hedgefield]

I believe 'In Memoriam' uses this sort of game experience also. It made you believe you were investigating a CD, made by a serial killer, dispatched by the FBI. On the CD were cryptic puzzles, ultimately containing clues to the location of the victims. You had to search across the internet, where fact and fiction blended, to find clues for the puzzles ingame.

A very fun experience, which really made you think it was real, especially because the game sends you real emails, and it contains fragments of the video diary of the victims.

[Ali]

take pink hairbrush and tie rope to it, then swing it from the balcony in order to attract the Flamboyantly Gay Pigeon that will give you the key you need to progress

Okay, I've got the key. Where do I use it?

Hold on...

This is a really nice idea and elements of it are very, if not wholly, original. I have a few reservations about whether it would work though.

You would limit your audience to the computer literate (i.e. people able to lighten photos and so on). I'm aware that most fans of adventure games, and probably all AGSers fall into that category, but it's worth thinking about.

Secondly, and more importantly, would it really be more entertaining to lighten an image yourself in GIMP than have the a character persuade his techno-genius best friend to do it? Possibly by making a Flamboyantly Gay Pidgeon dance for him?

If you could strike a balance between real-world investigations and fictional character interaction then I think you'd be on to a winner.

[Al_Ninio]

There was also this. Bit similar to In Memoriam, apparently.

[InCreator]

While it sounds quite interesting, outside-the-game gameplay is both it's stongest and weakest point... for example:

* What if player doesn't have an internet connection?
* What if player has no (idea about using) graphics manipulation software?
* What if player has never used any compression programs?`
* What if--
etc...
This limits the game audience, so you should keep tasks fairly simple.

Personally, I find the idea interesting but doubt that I'd care to waste time on playing something like this.

But I also have really tiny vision of an idea... it's so unclear... I haven't thinked it through yet, but what about people co-operating in finishing the game? Teamwork? Like people study clues and fit all pieces together (in game forum or similar way)

Eh, this requires helluva long and big game.

[Mordalles]

this looks like a really awesome idea! i would like to play a game like this. but i guess it owuld only prove how dumb i am. hehe.

[sergiocornaga]

Reminds me of those internet riddles.

[DoorKnobHandle]

Your idea is quite good in my opinion, but as others (mostly InCreator) already stated, it is going to limit your audience big time.

The only way of still having this is simulating a compression program/password system etc. IN your game! Like the LINK system in BASS for example. Don't make the user ALT-TAB away from your game to research - keep it in the game. Of course this takes a away some originality from the idea, but I still think its better.

[esper]

Thanks for all the ideas, everyone. Here's the deal.

First off, I kinda figured the only people who would EVER play this would be AGSers. Secondly, it is kind of a more "intelligent" game: the kind people like "Chis" and "J LOkins" would not ever even try to play (yes, I just read the post on the good ole days...). Thirdly, everyone who has said I should do an IN-GAME way of doing it was totally on to my original idea. This kind of sprang out of an idea I had in which you would search the internet, work in photoshop, and mess around with audio and video files, but it would all take place in-game (as in, FAKE photoshop, wavepad, etc.).. The ZIP idea came along afterwards, when I realized it might not be too hard to put in several different stages of an altered pic or audio file and play/show them depending on what you have done to it... But it might be less fun. Then there was the whole idea of coming up with a FAKE internet... Firstly, that would make it seem way less real and immersive. Second, YOU try making your own GOOGLE!!!! (yes, I know, I like to number my points)...

This is the only way I could think to do what I wanted to do, and it's kind of aggravating that it does seem to be the only way.

InCreator: How did they unzip the game, and how did they download the game to unzip it in the first place???

Ali: You got it from a flamboyantly gay pidgeon. I think you know what to do with it...