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Serial Killer Game

Started by MillaTime Jul 12, 2003 at 7:04 PM 117 replies 20.1k views
Original Post
MillaTime
MillaTime
Do you guys think people would buy a game where you play as a serial killer, and have to evade the authorities? You could get points for each house you sneak into, and kill off the family members while they sleep. Or you could pose as a hitch-hiker, and kill off the generous people who pick you up. In evading the police, you could hide out in the woods and focus on survival. Call me sadistic, but I would buy it...if it were done right.
----------Invincible intelligence isn't evincible.
Zhypoh
Zhypoh
Well you idea isn''t much worse then GTA, so I would say yes, people would buy it. However, if you ever released this game, and it did well you would be the media''s scapegoat for every teenage killer for a while.

- Zhypoh!
Zhypoh!
free lancer
free lancer
You''re sadistic.
And yes, I would buy it.
MillaTime
MillaTime
to hell with the media, them I can handle...
----------Invincible intelligence isn't evincible.
dede
dede
I read a reveiw a year ago about a pen and paper role play parady where you take the role of a serial killer. (its a joke on the old goblin genocide theme). The rules were there, and everything worked. I think basically, the GM would choose a house, and the book came with 30+ house layouts, and then the GM would rol for who was in the house, if they were awake etc.

The whole idea was to avoid the police over and over again.

You would also role for different "mental problems" your serial killer has, and they would also effect his preformance. The reviewer said he actually enjoyed the game, even though he knew the "jokes" as he saw them. He also said he had a strong stomic.


~~~~~
SNOBOL-If you succeed, shoot yourself in the left foot. If you fail, shoot yourself in the right foot.
Download and play Slime King I.
MillaTime
MillaTime
I''m thinking more GTA style, you get a city that you can roam around in, with every building/house available for entry...
----------Invincible intelligence isn't evincible.
dede
dede
quote:
Original post by MillaTime
I''m thinking more GTA style, you get a city that you can roam around in, with every building/house available for entry...

I don''t think this is possible with our current technology...

The map would be HUGE, and a lot of detail will have to be inserted. GTA3 doesn''t allow you to enter too many houses. Just 3.

I could see a game where you had specific targets, but I cannot imagain a computer game that allowed you that much freedom.

~~~~~
SNOBOL-If you succeed, shoot yourself in the left foot. If you fail, shoot yourself in the right foot.
Download and play Slime King I.
MillaTime
MillaTime
ya, I''m just a newbie, I wasn''t thinking of doing it anytime soon...just thought it would be an interesting project to take up if I make it to the big league.
----------Invincible intelligence isn't evincible.
adventuredesign
adventuredesign
To be the devil''s advocate here, I would make the motivations for the killing really socially relevant, such as priest abuse driving you mad and you think you are an instrument of god, or, somebody injects you with a new military drug and you become the perfect homicidal maniac, but the drug was so deadly they could not afford to test it publicly because of congressional outcry, so they pick you joe ordinary, and inject you, and track your progress by chip implant no matter where you are, and in fact, foil the police who try to catch you (for a ''foil''element of the plot).

You end up getting sleep darted and sent to kill the scientist who invented the drug who was just about to go public with the secret illegal military use, and kill him, but just in time as he dies he injects you with an antidote, and you remember how cruelly you''ve been manipulated and your life is destroyed, so now you take revenge on the military complex by discovering in the scientist''s computer files he knew he would be killed, that it would probably be by you so they would be blameless, and the scientist has prepared a package that would indict the accoutable shadowy government and corporate figures, and you take it to a law enforcement officer who realizes he has to help you (a friendly NPC) and there is a supply of the drug and the antidote that he can use to combat the powerful forces that the shadow government has against you. You are then randomly put on and off the drug against the government just as they randomly put you on and off society by the helper cop, and finally make it to the head of the organization who has been manipulating you all along, and instead of killing the evil leader, you inject him with the drug, turning him into a lethal homicidal maniac, but you keep him locked up for the rest of his life in an inescapable cell with bunnies and flowers painted on the walls, with music from Liberace, Muzak and easy listening piped in all the time with pacifist and ethical speeches in the background soundtrack also, and he has to eat vegan all the time so he is in the most horrifically imaginable prison that a homicidal maniac could be in as punishment for his crimes against your rights and the humanity he destroyed through you.

Just a few twists and characterizations off the cuff, to really get the player engaged in motivated play. You could call it, "The World is Against me" or, "So Long, Cruel World" (with a new take on the old suicide lament in a new context where the cruelty in the world has met the end of it''s day.)

Always without desire we must be found, If its deep mystery we would sound; But if desire always within us be, Its outer fringe is all that we shall see. - The Tao
MillaTime
MillaTime
wow, you added a lot of "game writing" to it. I guess that''s what I get for putting this in the "game writing" section. Your idea would partially get the media off my back, but I''d want it to be introduced somewhat late in the game. It''s being the badguy, and the freedom, that made GTA popular. But indeed my story cannot go without a plot. I would want the character to first, truly believe that they are nothing more than a psycho, without even an introduction movie...or perhaps one that doesn''t give much away (i.e. brief flashes of being on an operating table). And then, when you became a "good-guy", it might shy away gamers who wanted bloodshed, therefore, you''d have to prolly kill a lot of guards when seeking the scientist/govt. officials. Or, perhaps, there could be multiple serial killers, and with each one, you kill as many people as you can before you''re caught---and then the operation idea is introduced, but you then play as another person, in another town. All of these people were injected, and you get to work together in bringing down those responsible.

sounds pretty complex, but it would atleast give a reason besides..."you''re a psycho, go kill innocent families".
----------Invincible intelligence isn't evincible.
Cypher Ae
Cypher Ae
I like the idea. It would be tense, there would be stealth, there would be action, and there''d be the sickening satisfaction found in Tenchu 3. I''d buy it, f%^k what humanity thinks
sigmaent
sigmaent
It reminds me of a book a couple of years ago. The book were on how to commit the perfect murder or something, and it was belived the book was used in a murder case, If I recall correctly the book were banned.

The problem with such a game is of course the encounters you would get with the authorities and if the game is linked in a case like the book it could get into some serious trouble.

Anyhow the idea is good, I would never buy such a game but I know plenty of people who would so

------
http://www.uziana.com
http://sunamia.cjb.net
Waverider
Waverider
I once had the idea a few years back, and imagined what it might be like...

You are walking in the dark, moving from bush to bush, breathing heavily.

The road is lightly illuminated by all the street lamps.

You hear a front door open. "I''ll see you in the morning mom!" Your breathing stops. And your view keeps shifting among the leaves, making little grunts, trying to see who it is, what they look like. And you have a van parked at the end of the road.

A few other guys I spoke to had the ideas of including bags, piano wire and knives as weapons.

This was in the day when I think I involved way too many of the wrong ideas in my designs. The flare of it all was actually to be more comedic than anything, maybe even be a little satire on what TV, movies and video games are attempting to glorify nowadays.

You sometimes have an idea that you think is funny, but the typical player might consider it to be pretty sick. Looking back, I think making that kind of game would have had a very negative impact on the impressionable.
It's not what you're taught, it's what you learn.
MillaTime
MillaTime
According to US District Judge Limbaugh, violent video games can''t be responsible for impressionable youth doing stupid things, because they don''t convey ideas.

"The court fails to see how video games express ideas, impressions, feelings or information unrelated to the game itself. ... The issue in this cause of action is whether ... video games are a form of expression, not whether ... ''scripts'' are a form of expression," Limbaugh wrote in his decision. "The only video games given to the Court were those presented by the (county), and the court simply did not find the ''extensive plot and character development'' referred to ... in the games it viewed. "

You couldn''t bring down violent video games with all the lawyers in the world, thanks to this. It could probably be easily overturned though. But it''s kinda odd that music and movies are protected under first amendment rights, but videogames aren''t...

Anyway, nice to get some bible-thumping views...I guess. And Waverider, my intentions in presenting this idea were for the purpose of entertaining, not comical amusement. There are millions of people killing innocent people every day in Grand Theft Auto Games, Postal games, Carmageddon''s, and the list goes on, and I don''t see what the major difference would be with a title such as this.
----------Invincible intelligence isn't evincible.
OOCCO
OOCCO
The killing of someone would have to be an event in the game. What I mean is, you can''t just walk around in and out of houses killing people - you''d get bored and close it within 2 minutes. Perhaps you could be a stalker / killer and have to watch peoples routines like in "Majoras Mask" and kill at the right time.
"The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's history. I mean in this century's history. But we all lived in this century. I didn't live in this century."...Governor George W. Bush, 9/15/95
MillaTime
MillaTime
true dat! That''s why I was thinking of having the evade authorities thing. With a focus on survival and evasion in the woods, kinda like Snake Eater . You could also use vehicles for your getaway, or to take out someone. Ya, it''d probably have to be an outcast with a hitlist of all the people who made fun of him in high school. Also, if you do get caught, I was thinking perhaps you''d have to escape from jail. The focus would be stealth, unlike GTA.

DON''T COPY THAT FLOPPY!
----------Invincible intelligence isn't evincible.
moose_2006
moose_2006
I hate Game-Hippies. Not to be mean or anything. But what''s the big deal?! That''s why I don''t understand the whole controversy on Black and White and GTA! I mean, sure, you kill people or ''become'' a god. SO WHAT?! it''s entertainment, it''s imagination! It''s bits and pieces of compiled code resembling pictures and animations! Just because I control an island in Black and White (with a Hand, nonetheless!) doesn''t mean that I want to be a god. I mean, come on, people, think about it! We play FPSs all the time...after we shut off the switch, we think nothing more about it. How many people out there ACTUALLY think about games after they turn it off? I don''t until I feel a need to play it. There should be NOTHING controversial about games...NOTHING! But, that''s just one man''s opinion. Flame me, I like to be humored. Carrot Top cracks me up!

Anyway, this game would own. Leave out the cars though. Let ''em drive, but don''t steal ''em. Don''t copy GTA! But, I like the sneaking thing. Of course, you''ll have to make a day-night time control. Then you can sneak up on people when they''re sleeping and what not. And, of course, you''ll have to sleep (somewhere hidden so nobody finds you, of course). The jail, stealth thing would be good...but maybe tedious after a while. Unless, maybe everytime you were caught you upped the security or something.

I can''t think of anything else. It''s late. So, i''ll have more feedback some other time.

-Moose

bigwiger
bigwiger
quote:
Original post by Cypher Ae
I like the idea. It would be tense, there would be stealth, there would be action, and there''d be the sickening satisfaction found in Tenchu 3. I''d buy it, f%^k what humanity thinks


Tense? Action? These are just buzzwords flying out of your ass. I''m probably going to get a beat down from all the barbarians that are in here, and let me already say that I know that for the most part your defenses to my argument on why this design sucks is that it is just a joke, but anyway, here I go. The problem with this design is that it isn''t a game. It is bascially a sadistic toy. There is like no interactivity at all in the game besides going from house to house killing people. Wow, that doesn''t get old. And besides just the fact that running from house to house is monotonous, it is also just completly morbid and sick. You can''t take some illness of our society, and glorify it, and call it a game. That would be like making a "game" about a guy that goes from drug dealer to drug dealer buying crack. I think that if you want to turn this into a game, you need to add more challenge and interactivity to it besides just house to house killing and trying to keep away from the cops. I don''t personally know what you should add off the top of my head, but you get the drift of what you need.
Disgruntled designers are always the best ones
fadilthrejk
fadilthrejk
maybe a hit list
maybe you have to make the whole plan and all, on your own. you choose the method, materials, escape, coverup, whatever, like a murder sim.

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