My Next Game - Detective Noir, Imaginary Epic or Orwellian Sci-Fi - help?

Jockstrap · Sat 06/03/2004 05:36:46

I've been grappling with what game I should make next and I thought that you guys could help me. I have three main ideas:

The Infinite Repeater: Lazarus Walks
A sort of film noir set in the near future about a drug addicted detective. District Investigative Associate Marlon D'Onorio is called when a young woman is killed at a party in a small flat. As Marlon investigates he finds himself falling in love with the dead woman and combating his hallucinations. The game would have the feel of a play, and therefore be one room (possibly two). I imagine the cut scenes to be like a comic book. This game would be the first in a series of games in which the people involved are given different identities and put in different situations (i.e. in the second game Marlon could be a notorious criminal), hence the two titles.

Of Mud and Paper Work (working title)
A game about a 9 year old girl named Isobel who enters an imaginary world to help her friends the Mudmen do battle against the Bureaucrats.

Untitled '1984' Type Game
Set in a future where computers have all the important jobs, lower-end humans are processed for spare parts, and all the other humans are used for making propaganda films about the government. A shy, overweight man in his thirties, named Ken Saddler , is unwittingly thrust into the world of computers when his best friend, Thomas Fuchs, mysteriously disappears. As Ken delves deeper, he eventually meets The Server, the ruler of the world, and discovers the fate of his best friend. The game would draw parallels to Nazi-Germany, i.e. the propaganda films, posters, recruitments, experiments on humans etc...

The game I really want to make is the 1984-type one, but I think it's too ambitious for me at the moment. The second and third ones mentioned would have lighter tones whereas the first one would deal with darker themes. Since my first game didn't really do much for the people here, these three games are much more conventional.

Well, what do you think?

NOTE: I have started minor production for all three games; I've drawn the main character for each - let me know if you want to see them.

Peter Thomas · Sat 06/03/2004 07:12:16

Either the first or last game.

I tend to lean towards the first, though. It's easier for people to believe in a drug addicted detective than a world ruled by computers. This, of course, creates problems of its own (creating realism etc), but I think it's more 'involving' for the player, and it sounds like you really want to make a good impression with this game.

Don't give up on your 1984 idea, though. If it is REALLY a good idea, it will be just as good 1 year from now as it is today. And by then you'll have had more experience, and you'll truly know your way around AGS and the community. But don't be too ambitious about your second ever game.

Okay - in case I've waffled too much, and ya'll have forgotten my point: I say go with game #1!!!

But ask the rest of the community as well.....

EDIT: They all sound like cool games. Not quite sure about the middle one, though. Just my humble opinion...

Minimi · Sat 06/03/2004 07:29:49

Well... I could come up with 15 plots of games I would like to make also, but when I look at the facts, I only release 2 games... It's not really the fact weither we like it or not, it's all about weither you enjoy making it. I mean, developing (good) adventure games requires alot of time and effort, so why wasting all your time on making the adventure that we like, though you wanted to do actually something else...

well, just my 2 cents... now onto the 3 plots here...

The Infinite Repeater : Sounds like a cool idea, though I think it will take alot of hard effort to give the game the correct atmosphere. So take care of the Music, drawing style, and dialog choice!

Of Mud and Paperwork : abit vague idea, though if you can stretch the idea some more, it might turn out to be one of those games like The Longest Journey.

1984 type game : i.m.o. this project is a huge cliche! COMPUTERS RULE THE WORLD...WOOOO!.... well I think you'll catch my drift. And second, as you said already, it's probably too difficult to make it.

Show us your characters! Are they animated?

Peter Thomas · Sat 06/03/2004 07:45:48

I largely agree with minimi, but don't let that discourage you.

Undoubtedly you want to make this game JUST AS MUCH for you as for the community, so nothing we say should really matter. As long as you like it for yourself, that's what counts...

Okay, not really. Everyone knows you feel crap when other people don't like your stuff, so DO try to make it appealing, but don't FOCUS on me, or minimi, or anyone else's opinions. Do it for yourself, and if you're worried no one will like it, then don't post it. That way you can live in denial about it, and it'll all be ok.

Jockstrap · Sat 06/03/2004 08:37:38

Well the 1984 wasn't going to be a serious game, it was going to be a sort of black comedy. And I want to make all three of these games, I just didn't know which one I wanted to make first. I was kind of leaning towards the first one though..... The reason I even posted was because the first game I made was a darker kind of game and if I were to make The Infinite Repeater next, it might seem that I was only capable of making darker games.

Anarcho · Sat 06/03/2004 23:44:43

I don't think cliche has to be a bad thing when it comes to adventure games...so much of the genre hasn't been explored yet. Sure we all know about how computers could take over the world, but have we all lived it via interactive gaming? sure there's been some games, but i think it's possible to build on common ideas to make a cool game. Look at King's Quest, Roberta Williams literally took fairy tales right out of the books for that one. But it was awesome because it was new, because it was interactive.

go with any of the games, but like someone already said, go with idea that you like, just find a way to make it manageable.

RickJ · Sun 07/03/2004 01:43:30

I agree with Minimi about #3 being cliche. However if it's a comedy or parody then it could work out really well.

If you are looking to do something different than your darker style then a fantasy like your #2 could be the ticket.

Ali · Tue 09/03/2004 17:36:32

Number 2 is the plot for me, I'd love to play a game like that.

Vel · Tue 09/03/2004 18:56:00

I vote 1.

Lazy Z · Wed 10/03/2004 17:21:42

I love all three, but the first one is the most interesting. Could you show us the main characters? It would be interesting to see 'em.

Captain Mostly · Thu 11/03/2004 17:35:06

I'm concerned by your comment that you're going traditional just to please people 'round here. If you want to make a high-concept game that pulls away from traditional adventure game standards, you do it.

I think there has been a lot of "a game that's not a game" type games like your previous one, which might explain why it didn't get a great reaction (even though yours had an interesting twist, and certainly looked the biz). But that doesn't mean you should give up on making things a little different.

It frustrates me when people do threads like this one, as it seems that people are making what they think other people want to play, when they ought to be making something THEY would want to play. There's no point making something, because we voted for a plot snippet, when you should know better than anyone else what you'd feel happyer making first!

If you don't know what you want at the level of choosing a plot, how can you know what you want at the more detailed level of what goes on IN the plot? You surly won't keep posting threads asking "how should I start my game A, B, or C", "What should my character say at this point...", "how should my game end..."

And why take these three plots, and force them seperate? They're only stories that haven't been written yet! Why not take the elements you like from them all and mix them together? This way you can take the GOOD ideas from three stories you've dreamed up, and lose the large boring areas.

Why not have a drug addled detective, living in an orwellian nightmare, investigating a girl who's caught in a dream world with her mud-friend? This would give you a well thought out main character, a well thought out key supporting character, and a rich background to set it all against... With all this depth of thought that'll have gone into your game-world, fascinating different approaches to how the player will interact with it will efortlessly present themselves won't they? And even if they don't, it'll still be more interesting than...

I'm sorry I've written a lot, and it probably sounds aggressive and self-important. But I really feel you COULD do amazing things, instead of crowd pleasing things.

EVERYONE here could do amazing things!