The cause of history ...

[Eggie]

It would be funny if after he teleports away for the first time a scientist walks in and says "At last I have travelled through time! Now where did my Machine go?"

I think it's an awesome time, and it uses my favourite time travel therory! Yay!

[Evil]

Well for the time continueum thing I have two ideas...

1.) Never Ending story style
2.) Goes back really far the goes forward. Doing this you could have a sequal in which he goes to far forward and has to go to the time they invent the time machine...

[Hobbes]

This sounds like a terrific idea for a game!

I just love time travelling stories, and coming up with these "accidents" which cause our own history to happen is just a wonderful streak of imagination.

And yes, Frequency is a very good movie. In fact, a lot of time-travel movies are. Watch Donnie Darko (better yet: Buy the DVD and watch all the specials too). That movie is also very much packed with time travelling stuff. Provides some interesting thoughts and the theory it offers (Tangent Universe, Living Receiver) is also quite interesting.

Further, on the name. Conrad C. Quences sounds a bit... I dunno, logical. It's fitting, but I personally like Robin Tyme more. For me as a non-native English speaker, the joke was a bit more subtle, more hidden. And subtlety is a thing I like.

Good luck on making the game! And if you ever need someone to help you out a bit, contact me.

[Darth Mandarb]

This could be the intro to the game:
February 16, 1976 -  a scientist is working alone in his home basement trying to complete his secret time traveling device.  He is very close to finishing it but there is just one small problem with his formula for making it all work.  He takes another look at his calculations on the chalkboard and sighs in frustration.  There's something wrong with the calculations but he just can't figure it out.  The temperature in the room is hot so he goes up stairs to get something to drink and check the thermostat.  When he returns to the lab he notices the formula is altered slightly and it gives him the insight to the problem which he promptly fixes.  He now has the formula to make the device work properly ...

What you don't realized during the intro is that the reason the room was so hot was because you (the player) turned up the heat so the scientist would leave the room (the puzzle part) to adjust the thermostat ... so you could get to the device ... which is sitting on the desk in plain site.  When the scientist goes upstairs you race into the room and grab the device but in the process you smudge the chalkboard ...

But you don't get to that part until much later ... the intro shows you nothing of this.  You just see the scientist leave, go upstairs, grabs a glass of water, adjust the thermostat, then come back and get his inspiration.  Later on, while actually playing the game, you come across the scenario and actually cause it to happen.

...

Hobbes - Thanks for the encouragement!

I'll post in the Games in Production forum as soon as I have actually started the game and have a good portion to show.  It won't be for some time yet though 'cause I'm moving next month so that's going to be taking up a vast majority of my time in the next couple of weeks.

dm

[RickJ]

Darth:  This is a really intersting concept.  The idea of the player character actually causing everything to happen by accident is real genius.  It reminds me of Peter Sellers movies (i.e Pink Panther).  

Think of all the turning points in our history where things could have easily gone the other way.  Wouldn't it be funny if they would have, if our hapless hero hadn't turned up .  

Imagine poping in on Napoleon and his advisors, Napoleon is saying "I don't think now is the best time to take on Waterloo..." and the hero interjects with "Yes!  Because that's where you are going to be defeated.." and Nap get's pissed and says "Napoleon defeated? Never!  To Waterloo I say...".   Well, it's just an example of what I mean.  

I think you have a real opportunity for humor mixed in with suspense, action, drama, etc.  I can't wait to see more.  

Cheers
Rick

P.S. I like Robin Tyme for the name of the player character and "The Cause of History" or  "Causing History" for the name of the game.

[Migs]

This really doesn't matter, but the idea of a silver box with a red button on it isn't original.  They had the same thing in an old short story series when I was a kid, in 3-2-1 Contact magazine, called the "Time Team."  It featured two kids named Sean and Jenny(?) who created a tachyon machine for a science fair project.  Every time they pushed the button, it would take them somewhere random in space and time.

[shitar]

I think it's about time for a helm/philosophy reply from him, on this subject.