Set This House In Order!

[Ghost]

I just read that book: Set this house in order, by Matt Ruff, who is a bit of an underdog legend. It's very good- it tells, mostly, the story of a man with Multiple Personality Disorder and his misadventures...

And now I thought, this is good stuff, and it could make a game. An adventure game. See, in this book our main character Andrew has a "house" build in his mind, where all his souls live, and the house and the surrounding landscape are real for the souls... and reflect, to some extend, how Andrew feels and sees the world.

Now, Psychonauts of course had the idea of entering minds, but I was more thinking about having an adventure gamin character with MPD, so instead of switching from Hoagie to Laverne, you would switch personalities.


This could as well be in C&C as a concept, but- I'm quite interested in your ops here- too offensive, to strange an idea? Let's talk about that.

[Emerald]

The technical term is 'Dissociative Identity Disorder'. It's extremely rare and is usually a form of post-traumatic stress disorder, accompanied by other symptoms such as paranoia, insomnia and flashbacks.

I always thought it was a cool idea for a story, too, so I did some research on it. There's only like, 200 full-on cases of D.I.D. in the world. The problem is, the condition isn't as 'clean' as it comes across in movies and such. First of all, most psychologists consider it a compulsion rather than a full psychological disorder (like, say, insanity). In other words the sufferer is ultimately normal, but like someone with OCD, they can't help but act out certain characters/personalities. Just like the rituals of an obsessive person is a coping mechanism, a person with split-personalities is able to shield their vulnerable side from the world by burying it in their psyche. Or vice versa -- supressing negative emotions, sexuality, or simply hiding from themselves to avoid facing some sort of tragic event.

Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iHJfIH20TY


Like they mention there -- switching personalities can be accompanied by ticks and sudden movements, much like a compulsive person. Also notice that when she mentions his other personalities, he gets visibly agitated, which is common as a psychological defense mechanism against challenges to his virtual reality (i.e. ever tried to convince a child that Thomas the Tank Engine isn't real, or a Christian that God doesn't exist? It usually pisses them off, because you're attacking the stability of their reality).

[Misj']

The technical term is 'Dissociative Identity Disorder'.

Actually, the term 'Multiple Personality Disorder' is the term used in ICD-terminology (which is the standard as used by the World Health Organization). Chances are that they will substitute it for DID in ICD-11 to be in line with the DSM (which is officially only American), but until that time, MPD is the correct medical term worldwide (and since Ghost lives in Germany, which is part of this world, he may - and should - use MPD).

(let's hope this doesn't attack the stability of your reality )

Ps. For Ghost: don't mix up MPD and schizophrenia. There is actually no association what so ever between schizophrenia and MPD (split personality).

[bicilotti]

Theme is quite slippery but very stimulant. From your words I see you're not aiming at a stiff  "clinical research" for originality's sake or (worser) at a mere, voyeuristic, depiction of the disease.

Some games made with AGS used some kind of illness to influece the game's world / mechanics (first to come in mind but not the only one, 1213), but this is a different story.

Character developement, sincere portrayals and so on are probably one of the most difficult goals to achieve while writing an adventure game and this game seems to need plenty of both; so go for it, try to pull a groundbreaking game off your hat!

[Ghost]

Thank you for that link Emerald, it was really interesting... and for DID/MPD; I really just translated the german word without checking a medical dictionary.

And bic, next paycheck coming, I actually *might* buy a hat to pull something out of. Rattling the brainbox, jotting down ideas... you never know, one day I might actually have the time to *finish* one of those frikkin' things

[GarageGothic]

The PS2 game killer7 kind of did this, though you actually manifest the different personalites as individual characters in the game world. It would be interesting if all that changed was the abilities available and the character's perspective on the game world. I see a lot of puzzle potential just in triggering the different personalities, like when you take sedatives or drink coke to switch between the dreamworld and the real world in Trilby's Notes. Makes me think of Scott Adams' old The Hulk, where Bruce Banner could "bite lip" to provoke himself into becoming The Hulk.

Edit: It could make things quite complicated, yet very interesting, if each of the personalities would operate in their own fugue state, not recognizing characters that the other personalities had met nor remembering tasks set to other personalities. But I don't see any reasonable way of implementing this in gameplay, unless you pull some Memento shit on the player. One way could be to start off with blackouts. You would lose consciousness for a second, then wake up in a totally different place and with new inventory items on you. All of a sudden, you would be dealing with NPCs who look at you strangely, though you have no idea why or if you met them before. You would find your room listed in the motel registry under a different name and with a stranger's signature. Eventually you would also get to play as this second personality, perhaps after discovering the way to trigger the change.

[Emerald]

There's also Fight Club, but that was less about the disorder, and more just used it for a major twist in the end...

Like Bic hinted at (I think), the biggest temptation would be to make split personalities the driving force of the game, rather than simply an adventure involving someone with multiple personalities. When it comes to diseases or mental problems, they make great Oscar-winning films, but kinda sucky games. (although Rain Man: The Game would be hilarious)

The best approach would be something like Memento's -- the protagonist's 'condition' plays a big part in the overall story, but the main thread is really about something completely different (in the case of Memento, his unwillingness to accept his wife's death).

Also, like Memento, it would be important to put the player into the shoes of the character, rather than just making them feel like a passive observer. In other words, switches in personality should be as disorienting to the player as it is to the character (Where am I now? What's going on? Have I met him before? -- force them to ask these questions along with the character)

Really is a good idea for a game...

[Jeffers]

I'd be excited to see this as a game, but I think some of the later posts in this thread are forgetting one of the best parts of the idea: the house where all the different selves live. I think it would be pretty awesome if the main character went through a series of blackouts, and each time he went to the "house". Except the first time the house is all blurry, undefined, unclear...because at this point the main self can't really control his mind very well. By the end of the game the house would be crystal clear and easy to navigate...maybe you could even slowly gain the ability to switch into personalities at will.
...Of course, those are all ideas for a fairly long game. Probably not the best idea if you just want to keep it short and sweet.
And thanks for bringing up this idea! I'll totally go check out this book.

[Ghost]

@Jeffers: The book is awesome. It really is, try it out and, should you be disappointed, blame it on me

The ideas amassing here are very interesting, and I am taking notes... the CW job's done now, and I might try to pull off the stunt and test this one out. Thanks to all!