UPDATE 5/30/2008:
With less than one month to produce a game in order to qualify, we must decide on a game concept. Please choose one of the already listed unless you have a very original and viable game concept. VOTE NOW!
Voting ends 1:00 A.M. May 2nd, GMT!
Adventure Developers (www.adventuredevelopers.com) has started having contest. There are currently two contest, one for design, and one for art. The design contest is open to all engines and systems.
So, without any further ado; let's get started.
The two main goals thsi thread is going acomplish is to nail down a direction for the game, and more importantly get a list of contributors going, as well as a core directional team.
I'm just going to go off the top of my head as to what positions we need to fill.
--Story Director(s)/Writer(s)
--- Will be required to take the concepts the team agrees on and create a dynamic
---engaging storyline, dialogue, character arc and plot.
--Artistic Character Lead
--- Will be in charge of designing and "painting" the characters involved in the story.
--Artistic Background Lead
--- Will be in charge of deisgning and "painting" the barkgrounds to be used in the game.
--Artistic Animation Lead
--- Will be in charge of animating the characters and objects created for use in the game.
--Music Director
--- Will be in charge of the musical style and the creation or acquisition of music for the game.
--Scripting/Code Lead
--- Will be in charge of compiling all components into a functioning game.
Whether a Lead or a Director, does the work himself or gets help from others is entirely up to the the team and him/her. As far as I can recall, that's the list. Any shakers and movers out there have some words to share?
I've got an idea...
You're locked in a room with seemingly no way out. You find a Ouija board and lay it on the table.
Progress is made my asking questions using a verb parser system.
You would obviously begin by asking questions like "is there anybody here?"
The ghost would be shy at first and may not answer straight away, but searching the room further reveals some clues... newspaper cuttings or diary extracts from an unsolved murder that time forgot...
You return to the Ouija board and ask questions based on your new clues...
The ghost begins to answer your questions and slowly provides more of a back-story. The ghost wants you to solve its murder and maybe even avenge him or her and in return you will finally be able to leave the room...
This kind of format gives the game scope for a chilling gothic ghost story while being contained in one room... and instead of having lines and lines of text telling the back-story, it could be told in the form of flashback sequences of video and/or gameplay.
Who said it has to be confined to a singular room?
Quote from: Emerald on Mon 28/04/2008 23:47:22
Who said it has to be confined to a singular room?
Urinate, the contest coordinator.
http://www.adventuredevelopers.com/forum/index.php?topic=1632.msg9762#msg9762
When he says "room", do you think he means a physical room which you must stay in until you escape (i.e. in the context of the story), or just 'one background'?
If it's the former then we could base it on a holodeck/VR simulator, which would give us unlimited potential, and make for a dramatic ending (when you discover that it's all a simulation)
I volunteer for either background or character art. Animations too, atleast some.
(If we get another artist onboard, we could decide who does which part of the graphics.)
But only when we have some kind of basic story and setting together. I won't do ANY game.
And Emerald, get your act together. Every single thing you posted today reflects your shitty mood.
Quote from: Stupot on Tue 29/04/2008 00:03:24
Quote from: Emerald on Mon 28/04/2008 23:47:22
Who said it has to be confined to a singular room?
Urinate, the contest coordinator.
http://www.adventuredevelopers.com/forum/index.php?topic=1632.msg9762#msg9762
Where exactly does it say that? Yes, the theme is "escape THE room", but he also clearly writes "scene(s)" with an optional plural and says it "does not actually need to be a room". I see no mention that the location can't be a series of rooms.
I think that whether it be one or eleven rooms, the number is set by how this team-creating goes and what will be our capabilities.
In less than a month, I don't think we could pump out many BG's, neither code them all.
Especially if no-one's saying anything solid ontopic.
EDIT: To complain less and contribute more, here's a random game idea:
Zombies!
You play either alone or as a member of a group, getting trapped in a
* spaceship (future ,a member of crew)
* haunted house (a member of stupid, investigating teenagers)
* mansion (a detective called by royal family to investigate - um - a strange corpse with bite marks)
* ship (a seaman or a pirate)
...and it turns out that other occupants of the place (ship personnel, nearby villagers, royal family members, other pirates) have turned into zombies and you have to survive
well, and puzzles go around fortifying, improvising weapons & things to scare zombies, losing "unzombified" mates in a fight, investigating for clues - let's say - to find out ancient curse which turns things into zombies (diaries, newspaper clippings, etc Alone in The Dark stuff)
...and so on. That's simply first idea I got, inspired from that superb flash game Last Stand (http://www.freewebarcade.com/game/the-last-stand/) and "I Am The Legend" movie. And even this has tons of options.
I can do some of the writesy stuff.
I've always been good at dialogue and character development. It seems to come to me much easier than plot/story stuff, though I could help with that, too.
Role-playing is actually great practice when it comes to designing characters. You really get a feel for what personality traits fit into which situations, and what back-stories suit both the character and story context.
Quote from: GarageGothic on Tue 29/04/2008 00:11:01
Quote from: Stupot on Tue 29/04/2008 00:03:24
Quote from: Emerald on Mon 28/04/2008 23:47:22
Who said it has to be confined to a singular room?
Urinate, the contest coordinator.
http://www.adventuredevelopers.com/forum/index.php?topic=1632.msg9762#msg9762
Where exactly does it say that? Yes, the theme is "escape THE room", but he also clearly writes "scene(s)" with an optional plural and says it "does not actually need to be a room". I see no mention that the location can't be a series of rooms.
Yeh, he says it doesn't actually have to be ONE room.. but that doesn't mean it can't be... :-\
besides, my Oujia board suggestion, despite being set in one room overall, leaves plenty of room for story-driven flashback sequences which could be as much a part of the gameplay as the room itself.
Oujia idea isn't bad.
But, text parser? Would people play this?
You wake up, you're amenisic. What's going on? You're trapped in this room... you escape the room, things are weird... very weird... You have these niggling images flashing in your mind and for some reason you feel a sense of urgency. You're in a house... a familiar house... how did you get here... why are there screams? ...there's blood on that bed... there's objects destroyed... you're scared... you've got to get out of here. Any door that could lead outside refuses to budge... you have no choice to but to explore and try to find a way out... GOD! STOP THAT SCREAMING!!! IT's splitting your head...open a door... there are people on the floor, bags on some heads, cuts on others... WHAT IS THIS NIGHTMARE!! More images... memories you think. there are things wrong about the house... things are supposed to be a certain way, what way? how? You remember... a child... you rush upstairs... this door wouldn't open before... it swings opens... it's a girls room... YOUR DAUGHTER! She's nowhere... Where's mother?! You rush to the bedroom... she's dead, on the floor, a mess, there's smears everywere... WHAT IS HAPPENING! You fix more in the house... a window... what about a window? It WAS BROKEN! A man, he came in through the window! YOUR DAUGHTER! THE SCREAMS! You run for the front door, you bash it down, your eyes open, you're alert, on your knees, on your feet, you're looking around, you here the screams... you remember... he hit you... left you for dead? you don't care, you're alive, YOUR DAUGHTER! You run to find her... the house, that damned house in your head showed you what to do! You do it! There he is, holding her down... wispering in her ear ashe holds his hand over her mouth... you raise the gun... BLAM! Credits...
It's flawed, but isn't that what team-mates are for? I'm going to get a taco and i'll brainstorm for other ideas.
Quote from: InCreator on Tue 29/04/2008 00:42:18
Oujia idea isn't bad.
But, text parser? Would people play this?
I anticipated this question so I came up with this idea... as you gain clues (or as the story unfolds and new pieces of information are gleaned from the ghost), you bank these clues in your inventory, and then you simply use these clues on the Ouija board to ask more questions...
How does that sound?
QUick Idea for a game and some details.
Incomplete, but let me know what yas think :D
Back Story:
You work for a game company, lets call it 'Adventure Studio Games'
Your latest release game *insert comical title here* has been released and unfortunatly for you (the games key designer and lead programmer) the game sucks, and hundreds of ASG fans have gathered outside the building waiting for your exit so they can lynch you!
Cut to game:
Start off in your office, its late, and your working back to make up for being late this morning so you are the only ones there. Just as your about to finish up for the day, you get the news about the situation brewing outside.
You decide to call the police.
But how to make the call? You check your mobile, its flat and you never could work out the fancy dialing system to get the office phone to call an outside line. Walk round the building for a bit, find a pay phone, but ahh, no coins :S *insert typical puzzle to find a coin here*(eg. Coin in drain with magnet on stick) you got the coin, turns out the phone is broken *insert typical puzzle to fix the phone here* (eg. use plyers with lenght of wire, Use tape with stripped wire, ect)
Finally, the police are on the way!
Cut scene: Cops arrive and enter the buildings lobby to talk to you and escort you out. That is untill they also find out it was you who was responsible for the desecration of their favorite game series. Have a small chase around the lobby, bfore you give them the slip and enter the elevator.
Cut to game:
You in elevator, you hear from the other side of the door "lets take the stairs".
how to get out of the elevator? all floors lead to being arrested. *puzzle how to escape the elevator* (eg. Stop elevator between floors, use man hole, use screwdriver on vent, get into vent and crawl to new room.
Now in a server room for the company, thats locked from the other side. *puzzle to escape room* (eg find code on a screwed up piece of paper in the bin, enter code 1234 into the terminal near the door.)
Cut Scene: Meanwhile...
Cops let the mob into the building to help search floor by floor. Floor 1 is now off limits.
Cut to game: Your in a new room off the server room, its the IT Lab. Your see the experimental company robot in the corner and decide it could be your protector, if only you could get it working and reprogram it. *insert puzze to get robot working* (eg. Use battery with Robot, use USB cable laptop, use usb-latop with robot) Robot powers up, and vows to help you get rid of the people.
You send the robot on a recon mission.
Cust Scene: He bursts into flames and dies. fortunatly he still get rid of the people, as the sprinkler system and fire alarm went off, and everyone ran.
*insert more here* :P
End Cut Scene: Finally making it home after a hard day at work, you head off to bead, dreaiming of good things.
You awake in the morning and lookoutside your window, only to see a mob of people ready to lynch you again. NOOOOOOO!
The end!
Well, thats my general idea for an outline of a possible game. :D
Two things. Please, for the sake of everything holy, no amnesia. An amnesiac protagonist who wakes up in a strange environment is the mother of all cliches...
Also, I don't think a comedy game is a great idea. A game with jokes and humour
in context is fine, but random, zany 'antics' seems like it would be very messy, especially as a collaborative project.
Quote from: InCreator on Tue 29/04/2008 00:14:11
Zombies!
You play either alone or as a member of a group, getting trapped in a
well, and puzzles go around fortifying, improvising weapons & things to scare zombies, losing "unzombified" mates in a fight, investigating for clues - let's say - to find out ancient curse which turns things into zombies (diaries, newspaper clippings, etc Alone in The Dark stuff)
I think this is the best idea so far. Coincidentally I was thinking the same thing..
what if you were the zombie?
You're in college, you have an important test coming up... your buddy gives you a No-Doze anti-sleep pill... only it's not... like alice in wonderland on acid, literally. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.
What about a game in the life of a superhero?
I can agree that amnesia is a cliche, but zombies isn't now?
Quote from: EldKatt on Tue 29/04/2008 17:32:04
I can agree that amnesia is a cliche, but zombies isn't now?
But it's not really amnesia. A guy breaks into his house a fight ensues, his wife gets killed and he gets knocked out. The robber assuming he's a murder decides that the house is his to take his sweet time. He discovers their tenage daughter and is well... use your imagination there. The man is "amnesic" because he's been clonked on the head, and he's in a comatose state, he needs to escape his mind in order to snap back to reality. Back in reality he needs to rescue his daughter.
Zombies ARE a cliche, but more so in movies than in games. When I think of zombies though, I think of action, not clicking around a screen... which is why I suggested the player being the zombie, although i'm not sure what the goal whould be, beause then you wouldn't have to worry about action sequences, there's no one to eat...
The Oujia board is original, but could it be fun? I'm having trouble seeing that.
Escaping from a mob of angry AGSers? Sounds like a good piece of farce, but not everyone has a taste for farce. Plus, when not done correctly instead of farce it comes of as bad... really bad.
Quote from: Stupot on Tue 29/04/2008 00:46:40
Quote from: InCreator on Tue 29/04/2008 00:42:18
Oujia idea isn't bad.
But, text parser? Would people play this?
I anticipated this question so I came up with this idea... as you gain clues (or as the story unfolds and new pieces of information are gleaned from the ghost), you bank these clues in your inventory, and then you simply use these clues on the Ouija board to ask more questions...
How does that sound?
It reminds me of an old ZX Spectrum game (IF if you like) I played. It was called ID.
QuoteThe Oujia board is original, but could it be fun? I'm having trouble seeing that.
Escaping from a mob of angry AGSers? Sounds like a good piece of farce, but not everyone has a taste for farce. Plus, when not done correctly instead of farce it comes of as bad... really bad.
I second both.
Also, we should avoid inside jokes.
Here is an idea:
A young boy and his father goes out sailing into the ocean. A storm brews and the father falls overboard. Puzzles would involve trying to keep the boy alive and getting help. Such as making a home-made flare, fixing a radio, catching fish for food etc.
Is that cliché?
No, it's good! :)
Maybe this is a bit cliché but who knows:
A man is on his journey with his jeep, exploring the world or this kind of stuff. He is just in the middle of a desert and his car breaks. So he waits until the morning and he realizes that he is in the middle of nowhere, just with one small village near an oasis nearby. (people here haven't seen anyone in years) So the "room" is actually the mini-village and his car. Puzzles - he does not speak the villagers' language - that is the main problem so he must find a way to communicate (+ the people may be afraid of him), he is cold at night, he has to get to his destination because of something (marriage or anything more probable) so that invokes some healthy stress. He uses things from his car to make the villagers more friendly - he shows them new things.
Just a thought, maybe someone can improve it?
Oh man, they've already started the comps and I just found out, I was the one who brought up the whole idea of having contests over there. Glad to see they're having them. :)
Kudos to you, I actually understood something you said for once :=
Quote from: IndieBoy on Tue 29/04/2008 18:27:52
Here is an idea:
A young boy and his father goes out sailing into the ocean. A storm brews and the father falls overboard. Puzzles would involve trying to keep the boy alive and getting help. Such as making a home-made flare, fixing a radio, catching fish for food etc.
Is that cliché?
He could be stranded on an island, and ultimately his father comes to save him, after being recued by a fisherman.
The problem is, how does this kid have the knowledge to make a flarE? or fix a radio? How does he have th materials? How would we implement catching fish as an entertaining an interactic experience? (turn based batlle? =P )
Oli: I think that's being a little bit liberal with the one room scenario. Even being trapped on a boat/island is pushing it. Plus it doesn't sound compelling enough for me to want o play it off that description alone.
----------------
Private investigator imprisoned by the person he's investigating.
Trapped in high security prison, some organization lead an assault on the prison, leaving most of it in rubble, they escape with several prisoners and leave everyone else for dead... you're still alive, though hurt... any maybe some other people are too.
David Bowie steals your little brother... nah, hollywood wouldn't even touch that, nevermind.
You're in a phone booth and there's a sniper on you... no, sounds too farfetched. (Neer thought how much "Phone Booth" and "6 Day Assassin" are similar.)
What about a monkey-bone inspired thing. You die right when something great is about to happen in your life... but you're not in heaven, nor in hell. Your fate is still being decided. You're in this dark surrealist limbo and you've got to get back to the real world.
You're a young girl and you're kidnapped... they lock you in a basement. Now get out.
You're a magician, you're in search of the next big trck, that little edge. You begin to delve into the occult, black magic, hoodoo, and ancient magic. Somwhere along the way you meet this guy that for some reason uses REAL magic and contains you in a book. A children's book, adult fiction, whatever and you've got escape... This sounds like a fun idea for a series. He can gain magic spells as he continues, combined with his scientific logic and sleight of hand he adventures the worlds "real magic" scene.
Alternative: Maybe he shrinks you and locks the door to his study, so he can use you later. You have to escape using all the crazy stuff in his room/house.
Maybe for the zombie story, a viral outbreak is turning people into zombies (any variation) and you're put into a quarantine, it would appear as though the zombies are going to over-run the weakly defended quarantine and you're trying to figure out how to escape the country and make for Hawaii/Virgin Islands, or some other island with your family, maybe just by yourself. Maybe people aren't even zombies... aybe it's just a fatal sickness and there are rumors that some people IN the quarantine have it... just brainstorming here.
Quote from: Questionable on Wed 30/04/2008 04:07:10
David Bowie steals your little brother...
Hah! Best idea so far.
20 days left!!
No time to brainstorm anymore.
Let's decide something, or vote on presented ideas.
Also, let's set the team.
Currently, we need a coder. And someone to put story down. It's critical. I could start with BG/character graphics and some additional artists could join later, too. But storymaker and sure coder are first priority to be set NOW.
I say the stranded on a boat one.
I have some problems with the original concept. How does a young kid know how to build a flare? Do you know ho to build a flare? Can you fix a radio? I can't. Let's bring his age up. For practical purposes I'll say 25. Now, why are you out on a boat? I was thinking, ~Maybe they're fisherman~ but fisherman don't usually go out that far, not just two of them. Okay, how about a rich father and son? Well, it's hard to get stranded on a boat with no motor, how about a sailboat? A Rich father takes his son out on a two man sailboat for his 25th birthday. A storm hits, the son is scrambling to get life vests, seat cushions, anything! Next thing he knows, his dd is gone, the sail rips off/mast cracks and the storm tropical storm is gone, just as quickly as it came. He's on a giant boat, with no means of propulsion... no father... just a small island, barely an island, in the distance. Too far to swim, especially as weak as he is, but the boat is drifting slowly toward it. In the mean time, he must build a flare to try and attract attention, he must build a contraption to collect condensation, for fresh water. He has to get food, somehow, fishing, shooting a bird, diving in the water and grabbing a turtle, whatever. He tries to open up communications with... well, anybody.
Finally he's on the island. Now he must build a fire, he's been freezing for days. He must collect food. He mus build a shelter. His water machine is destroyed, he must build a new one or die of thirst. He gets through to someone but can't describe where he is, they say they will get help. Finally, his father (who managed to grab a life vest and float for a day, was picked up by a man driving his cigar boat, whtever...)
Happy ending to a dangerous tale. I think we can get away with this because the CORE CONCEPT is identical to an escape the room style game.
Though I quite liked my idea of being trapped inside your own head as a metaphor for having to escape a room, and what's more compelling than a comatose father trying to reain consciousness in order to save his daughters life? Cool as it sounds, it's not very deep game play wise. I think the design of the island game has the potential to be the most rich game concept suggested.
We have no more time to debate. STATE YOUR MIND NOW! April 30th to May 1st; then we start working on the game concept with the most votes!
Wow! It's the Sims Castaway! Or Lost in Blue! Or Lost in Blue 2! Or Lost in Blue 3! Or...
And they say originality is dead!
All I seem to make is single room games. Maybe I could enter this.
...if I didn't sleep 23 hours a day.
I'm in on sailboat story.
Also, I'm quite positive I'm able draw bg's for this one. It's not like anyone else volunteered for art... :(
To save time, I probably 3D-model everything I need and retouch to look 2D, just like I'm doing for latest BG's for Henri.
For some hardcore drama and explanation to somewhat bizarre situation, let's say that protagonist had a quarrel with his/her dad, they didn't talk to each other for years and they finally decided to do something together, to get together again. And then storm happens...
This supplies us with dramatic cutscene idea for game intro...
And ending. When they meet again, they understand how much they really cared for each other, or something... what do you think? Too cheesy?
If you need a programmer I might be able to help out.
Quote from: InCreator on Wed 30/04/2008 19:15:22
I'm in on sailboat story.
Also, I'm quite positive I'm able draw bg's for this one. It's not like anyone else volunteered for art... :(
To save time, I probably 3D-model everything I need and retouch to look 2D, just like I'm doing for latest BG's for Henri.
For some hardcore drama and explanation to somewhat bizarre situation, let's say that protagonist had a quarrel with his/her dad, they didn't talk to each other for years and they finally decided to do something together, to get together again. And then storm happens...
This supplies us with dramatic cutscene idea for game intro...
And ending. When they meet again, they understand how much they really cared for each other, or something... what do you think? Too cheesy?
I'm going to start working on characters and story. I like that story about them coming together, I tried about 3 dialogues so far and at some point it all comes off as weird. I'll keep writing. Worst case scenario, we can recycle any graphics we make if we ultimately decide that a different game would be a better path, but I really like this concept.
If this is a true collaboration, add all the zombie, Ouija board, elevator escape ideas together and have a new bundle of cliches in one game?
If you need someone to bounce you're ideas off, I'm willing to help writing / designing puzzles.
Expanding on InCreator's ideas, what about a rich adventurer (think Steve Fossett), who takes his spoiled good-for-nothing daughter (think Paris Hilton) along on a journey and they get stranded on a small island and the father is badly wounded.
They know they will be found but it could be a day or a week, so in the mean time the spoiled daughter has to - make a fire, - collect things from the ship that have washed ashore (I can see a puzzle here with something vital just out of reach) - get food / get a coconut down from a high palm tree, but she can't climb - make a small shelter.
You can use the father character to tell you how to do things, but since he weak, you'll have to make sense of what he's saying. This seems like a nice dramatic relationship, with the daughter scared and unsure and the father being sure they'll be rescued, but badly hurt.
There could be a tearjerky cutscene when night falls, the father sleeping and the daughter talking to herself about how scared she is they won't find them on such a small island.
As a closer, in the morning there's a plane flying and the last puzzle is to attract attention (the plane turns around as soon as your attentiongrabber is done).
A thought about the background: The scene could be a wide piece of beach, possibly looping.
I am interested in the coding part :P but I am not a person with alot of free time as I roughly got about 5 hours a day, where I also during these hours work on my own company, though if worst comes to worst I am willing to try and help!
Eitherway I hope this happens!
I personally like the Ouija board idea and Questionable's idea:
Quote from: Questionable on Tue 29/04/2008 00:42:54
You wake up, you're amenisic. What's going on? You're trapped in this room... you escape the room, things are weird... very weird... You have these niggling images flashing in your mind and for some reason you feel a sense of urgency. You're in a house... a familiar house... how did you get here... why are there screams? ...there's blood on that bed... there's objects destroyed... you're scared... you've got to get out of here. Any door that could lead outside refuses to budge... you have no choice to but to explore and try to find a way out... GOD! STOP THAT SCREAMING!!! IT's splitting your head...open a door... there are people on the floor, bags on some heads, cuts on others... WHAT IS THIS NIGHTMARE!! More images... memories you think. there are things wrong about the house... things are supposed to be a certain way, what way? how? You remember... a child... you rush upstairs... this door wouldn't open before... it swings opens... it's a girls room... YOUR DAUGHTER! She's nowhere... Where's mother?! You rush to the bedroom... she's dead, on the floor, a mess, there's smears everywere... WHAT IS HAPPENING! You fix more in the house... a window... what about a window? It WAS BROKEN! A man, he came in through the window! YOUR DAUGHTER! THE SCREAMS! You run for the front door, you bash it down, your eyes open, you're alert, on your knees, on your feet, you're looking around, you here the screams... you remember... he hit you... left you for dead? you don't care, you're alive, YOUR DAUGHTER! You run to find her... the house, that damned house in your head showed you what to do! You do it! There he is, holding her down... wispering in her ear ashe holds his hand over her mouth... you raise the gun... BLAM! Credits...
the best.
Many good ideas here :) but since time is running out, maybe you should get it on with the "stranded on a boat/island" one, since there is already a bit of development about it?
I can help, if you still need some writers.
After researching ocean survival here are some things one might need to contend with:
Hyperthermia. Hyperthermia is the heating up of the body from external sources. Differing from a fever in which a fever is regulated by the body, in fact it is CAUSED by your body in order to allow your immune system to function more efficiently and also to create a negative environment for the bacteria/virus the body is combating. Hyperthermia on the other hand is not regulated by the body and is more dangerous than a high fever. The average human body temperature is between 97-99°F/36-38°C. Around 103°F/40°C conditions are life endangering. At approximately 106°F/41°C your cerebral neurons begin to deteriorate. After several hours, you become brain dead, essentially your brain can no longer function. This may include a loss of control over major organs; such as the heart and lungs, in which case you will die within minutes. You may also lose only pieces of human functionality. With modern medicine (life support) machines can keep you ave in hopes of medicine being able to repair these functions. Being trapped at sea however means that prolonged contact with the sun may ultimately result in your death even if you are well fed and watered. This is called a "Heatstroke" or "Sunstroke."
Use in a Game: sing a points based system, the player can do things to reverse heat stroke. Cooling off with water,
wearing a hat, sunscreen... etc.
Dehydration. Being lost at sea, either stranded on an island or afloat, one of the major concerns is dehydration. Salt water is not safe for regular digestion and can lead to life threatening conditions, therefore the procuring of freshwater is important for survival at sea. There are three common methods for collecting rainwater: Rain catch, Condensation Trap and Boiling Desalinization.
Use in a Game: A rain catch is a simple enough contraption for the player to set up, a bucket on the ground, a shirt or a rag that can be wrung out. Boiling Desalinization is the most difficult, most complex but also the most readily available method of collecting freshwater, in that; a rain catch requires rain (though it rains nearly everyday in the tropics) and a condensation trap requires time. Boiling desalinization is essentially a condensation trap though instead of waiting for water to condense/dew to form/evaporation to occur through solar energy a man made heat source forces the evaporation and the steam is then collected and contained for consumption. It would seem to me that all three methods could be implemented in a game:
(http://www.plumparty.com/Merchant2/graphics/products/large/15929.jpg)
Rain Catch
(http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll183/QuestionableQontent/condesationcatch.gif)
In Black is a bucket. The bucket is filled with urine (yellow), Seawater (aqua) and Leaves/Greenery (green). The Sun and it's rays (red) force the water to evaporate and condensation appears (pink) on the lining of the plastic bag (blue) which is attached with rope, rocks or the ends are placed under the bottom of the vessel/bucket. The condensation collects and falls to the lowest point of the bag, being weighed down by rocks (brown) and collects in the broken champagne bottle your Dad brought to celebrate (orange)
For a boiling distillery, replace the bucket with a can or a pot filled with the same material, then add a fire and take away the sun. It's more dangerous, less efficient and more difficult t perform, you can have fresh water at any time day or night, however. EDIT: for the boiling method, a shirt or a rag may be used to collect the steam , then wrung out into a container... this will not work with the solar method as the nature of that method is slow and the evaporation will escape from the cloth.
Food. The most abundant source of food in the ocean is going to be fish. Fish often make the underside of a slow moving vessel (a sailboat, for instance) their home as the cool, darker waters are comfortable and algae/plankton collect on the bottom of most vessels, follow this down the food chain and you may attract larger and larger fish, some which are easier to catch than others... beware this maybe also lead to sharks... or dolphins! Fish are far from the easiest food source to catch though. Most likely one will be able to retrieve giant conchs and giant sea snails. Sea Snails are easy enough to prepare, boil them in water until they float. Remove the entrails and feed on the meat. Conchs are even easier to find and prepare. Simply grab the conch, smash the outer shell and cut away any meat that isn't a bright white in color... you may eat the meat raw with no ill effects. Green sea turtles (the kind without beaks) can be found feeding on Turtle Grass throughout ocean reefs, grab this suckers back and haul him away. You can flip him over and cook him right in the shell... be human and kill him first, this is about survival, not torture. EDIT: Lobsters can also be found in many tropical reefs. Once on land, most small Keys or Islands have an abundance of lizards, giant roaches and often birds nests. Most tropical Keys will have palm trees and bamboo, while bamboo serves no food purpose it is an extremely useful material. Green coconuts have quite a bit of liquid inside which can keep you hydrated... they have also been known to cause diarrhea in some people. Brown coconuts are harder to get into and has less liquid, the meat however is what we think about when we think of coconuts and is a relatively nutritious and tasty treat.
I think the use of food in this game is obvious.
Noteworthy things:
Most small tropical Keys will have a collection of "garbage" washed up on their shores and materials from shipwrecks.
Many small Keys will have been used by "deep sea poachers" in the past, some of their remnants can usually be found left behind, including cleared areas lined by rocks used as methods of keeping roaches and scorpions away.
At night, there is no light pollution and it is generally bright enough to see for quite a distance.
After spending many days as sea, people have been known to get "stillness illness" and will feel as though they are still at sea, while on land.
Bamboo burns for a long time.
It rains several times a week in the tropics, especially at Dust and Dawn.
When drifting at sea, usually one will drift in one direction during the day and another during the night... luckily the days are considerably longer than the night.
On the vast ocean, there are times when there are no waves... the ocean is dead still. There are also times when there is no wind.
One of the biggest challenges survivors face is a psychological one. They usually start to feel claustrophobic, even on large ships, due to the vastness of the ocean surrounding them. Some survivors report bing able to actually SEE ships on the horizon, only to have them fade away, a maddening occurrence. Lone survivors have the added strife of not having anyone to be heroic for , no one to protect and no one to talk to.
Small Keys dot the ocean landscape. They can range anywhere from dozens of feet to about 100x100 meters, any larger and they are considered islands.
Coral reefs can be dangerous by themselves. Strong as steel they can easily destroy the hull of a ship in seconds. They are sharp enough to kill sharks and even small fish, and can rip the skin and break the bone of any man.
Scurvy, or a vitamin C deficiency, will not become a life threatening issue unless it is prolonged, by the psychological manifestations such as depression and laziness may begin to surface.
I think the sailboat has a lot of potential, but to add in to the survival and build a story, maybe there are natives there too (I know it sounds like Lost, but bare with me). There are two warring tribes, and the protagonist is caught between the middle. In terms of puzzles, he has to build traps and get items, make distractions, etc... In terms of story, the player is forced to choose between tribe A and tribe B in terms of who to go against. I.e. in order to survive, he must end the war by overcoming tribe A or tribe B. Choosing a different tribe results in a much different set of goals and objectives for the player's survival. In terms of tying it to dad, maybe choosing tribe A he finds out tribe B is holding his dad as a sacrifice to the volcano, but if he chooses tribe B, tribe A gave his dad some potion brainwashing the dad into thinking he is the destined ruler of tribe A and must destroy tribe B to fulfill his destiny.
I think you get the point. Obviously the two different possible storylines will intertwine, for programming ease, but I think it'd be neat. Another similar alternative, would be you can choose which person you are (the dad or the son) and the son is forced to help tribe A and the dad is forced (or maybe highly encouraged) to help tribe B but of course they are not aware of this till the very end.
also, the fact that he is rich is good. The boat could have been fairly big, allowing for a lot of the items the player will find and utilize to be things he wouldn't normally see on a remote island. Maybe he finds batteries on the shore and a tarp is carried into a cave by a bear, or whatever. This presents a lot of potential (that will make sense) to the necessary tools to solve the puzzles.
Puzzle idea, setting up an alarm system so the big mountain lion (or whatever) doesn't eat him when he sleeps. And there is a similar meter for sleep deprivation as there is for heat exhaustion. Certain tasks and such will deplete the meter more than others.
Referring to the warring tribe idea, some ideas for a source: tribe A stole tribe B's ancient artifact, romeo and juliet sort of situation, tribe A's shaman was murdered and shaman's assistant framed tribe B, a recent geophysical activity has forced a shift in the way the fresh water flows and if tribe A doesn't share, tribe B will parish, but tribe A is selfish and never liked tribe B in the first place.
my head is just bubbling with ideas.
In order for the tribe to trust the player (or whatever) he has to get the very nasty princess to marry the very picky shaman (or whatever). So he has to set up a shower or bath, he has to find the shampoo to get her hair nice, he has to concoct a perfume from the flowers, he has to make a bra to make her breasts more attractive, etc... You get the point.
Jesus. :o
Maybe we scrap design contest idea, and just make an ultimate team game?
Let's say, in 3 months?
Yukon:
In my research, I've found that these small islands are not inhabited by natives. There's just no eco system to support them. Any island that has "natives" usually has a modern settlement as well, meaning that it's a simple matter of finding out where it is.
It's must more likely that if you were to run across anyone it would be pirates, political guerillas or poachers. All of whom are very dangerous, though not very common.
Plus, having a small time limit means that creating a complex tribal trust system, and story line means MORE characters, MORE animations, MORE backgrounds, etc...
Having one guy alone on a boa, then later an island means a total of about three gameplay background and one sprite. Maybe more for cutscenes. Simple is good and it doesn't get anymore simple than one man trying to survive.
As far as the puzzles. Mountain lions and bears aren't going to be on a small tropical key. Scorpions, poison snakes and agressive crabs are, however.
I've outlined some plot elements that I hope to share with the writer, whomever that may be, and one of which is that during the storm a fork of heat lightening breaks the mast, this is the only effective way to disable the functionality of a Bermuda Sloop. There are two sails, you can't lose TWO sails. You can however lose the one mast they're connected to. The size of these ships vary, but on a personal vessel that can be manned by three or fewer people, space and simplcity is a premium so they will have a small cabin at most.
I like the idea of him trying to set up an alarm system, or some sort of barricade to protect himself, but for the most part I think that building a survival game and pulling it off with informed knowledge and doing so well is going to be a nice game to sink into. If the contest was about innovation and we had more time than I would be all over a trust system, tribal politics, branching story lines, but with little more than two weeks to pull this off I think we need to focus on simplicity.
Keep those creative juices flowing! I need more ideas from you, you're about the most active guy on this post so far.
Skip the breaking masts:
Getting washed overboard is enough misfortune for a human being. Why make it complex?
But are we trying to be totally within the realm of reality, or no? Not that I would call it fantasy, but having elements that aren't 100% realistic aren't too awful, I think they spark the imagination. I am not saying have griffins and pixies and such, but surviving predators is a neat aspect of survival. Outwitting them as it were.
You could have it sort of a sick experiment by an even wealthier guy. Maybe he has a submarine that could simulate them hitting a rock spire and it punctures their boat. The wealthy guy owns the island and uses it to test people's survival skills. Sort of cliched concept of rich guy hunts people. But this isn't apparent at first. Obviously some bits of survival are natural, but the wealthy guy incorporates artificial dangers too.
As a puzzle, there is a small patch of land surrounded by a tar pit, but the land has a large amount of fruits and vegetables (or something else that is desirable) and he has to build a sort of bridge.
Also, with it just being survival, I have a hard time with where the climax enters in. What, you go 7 days without dying and then the coast guard comes in? Maybe make the survival an integral part of the game, but give the son clues (or a strong inkling) that his dad is on the island with him and alive. So he has to use his wits and resources to cross that tar pit, climb that cliff, etc... to reach him.
Another thought about that, son purposefully goes looking for dad who he suspects was stranded on said island. Twisted quirk of fate, nature lands him on the same island. Clues emerge that tell the player, his father IS alive and on the very same island he is on (he finds his dad's pocket watch or something). Obviously, the player doesn't know this at first. This would obviously give the player reason to explore the island to the fullest to find his father.
I think a simple yacht being overturned in a freak storm would suffice. A harsh wind can easily tip over a boat if the sail is up.
Obviously too late, but I just had a great idea for a game. An adventure game based off of the great escape (the movie with Steve McQueen). You play the role of scrounger, distractions, manufacturer, surveying, etc...
As a side note, go ahead and run with these ideas (anyone). A simple pm saying, hey I used your great escape idea is all I ask for.
You might want to go through the thread and create a 48hour poll with all the better options listed.
Otherwise there will never be a decision either way, theres too many mixed ideas in here already :P
It could be based on "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym" by Edgar Allan Poe: It's about an ill-fated sea voyage, it has a fantastic ending and many traits that can be used in an adventure game setting, like strange symbols and riddles. Maybe it's a bit ambitious for one month, but it's still great inspiration, and describes many puzzles aboard a ship, like hiding from mutineers and staying alive below deck. The whole novel is available here:
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma98/silverman/poe/fulltext.html#toc)
Dont't be scared by the dull title - it's one of the most thrilling texts ever written :)
I've read some good Poe and some bad Poe, but i've never seen this one so i'll check it out. We can at the very least use it as inspiration.
Time is up, we're working on a "trapped on an island" game. I'll post what I have of the story so far later this evening.
So where is it??
Is this still being made for the competition or?
Quote from: fred on Sat 03/05/2008 00:28:32
It could be based on "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym" by Edgar Allan Poe: It's about an ill-fated sea voyage, it has a fantastic ending and many traits that can be used in an adventure game setting, like strange symbols and riddles. Maybe it's a bit ambitious for one month, but it's still great inspiration, and describes many puzzles aboard a ship, like hiding from mutineers and staying alive below deck. The whole novel is available here:
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma98/silverman/poe/fulltext.html#toc)
Dont't be scared by the dull title - it's one of the most thrilling texts ever written :)
I've read that book some years ago, the edition came with another story (Gogol's "The nose"), and I think it could work.
Not only the ending is of the fantastic nature but all of the story is set on a fantastic/surreal mood.
I remember skinny and tall characters and obese burgeon woman on grassy knolls (how good is that?).
But, IMO, I would go for Poe's Vampire texts instead of that one.
So i take it theres nothing happening here now?
Shame.