Collaborative Game Story Survey

I'll list the ones that I would strongly like to see put forward (because otherwise I'm pretty easy going)
1.
I'm very easy going about games so I don't really have anything that I *don't* want to see.

2.
Characters: I have an idea for a very honourable (samurai like) character. Sort of an anthromorph.
3.
Genre: Probably my favourite genre would be a combination of Sci-Fi and Fantasy.

4.
Again I'm not overly picky, just don't really want to see the old unrequented love senario.

5.
If nothing else than my #3. Otherwise I'm not overly picky.

[Edited by - Terlenth on August 31, 2004 5:29:13 PM]

1) What do you not want to see in the story?
Nothing, really, as long as it is good and makes sense

2) What existing ideas do you have that you would like to possibly put into the story (describe in detail please)?
- Characters - Lots of character personalities and ideas. There is a lot of depth in a character, and in RPGs characters are some of the most important things.
Some personality traits to various characters:
Kind
Loyal
Mysterious
Backstabber
Glutton
...
...
...

3) What is not an idea of yours but might be cool to see in a single-player RPG?
- Genre
- Characters
- Abilities
- Tropes
- Plots
- Settings

4) Romance has been mentioned a lot recently. Please describe in as much detail as possible how much and what kind of romance you would want the game to have.

I don't know how to be overly detailed, but something like in games such as Final Fantasy 6 and Chrono Trigger would work. (For those of you who have played either of those games)

5) If you could only choose one item you have listed above to go into the story, which one would it be?

Can I have two? No! Then probably Characters.


[Edit: fixed numbering]

[Edited by - sunandshadow on August 30, 2004 9:11:38 PM]

Well here's mine, guess I'm more picky than you guys. ;)

1) What do you _not_ want to see in the story?
- Genre
Tragedy, noir, horror, war (military stuff is cool, but not big battles were lots of people die)

- Characters
Characters that have only one pure motivtion such as revenge or greed. These characters always come across as shallow and unrealistic.

- Abilities
Any abilities only good for mass destructon or slaughter.

- Tropes
Mechas, robots, evil corporations, actually purely evil or good anything, magic orbs or stones, environmentalism

- Plots
I'm so sick of heroes slicing their way through evil hordes...

- Settings
Modern or near-future, anything grungy and depressing, settings spread out over multiple contients or planets


2) What existing ideas do you have that you would like to possibly put into the story (describe in detail please)?

- Genre
Psychological romantic comedy, science fiction

- Characters
The PC is a foreigner to the culture the game takes place in and most of the NPCs are from.

Skew, short for Skewbald, is a male minor villain with vitiligo, a skin disese which makes someone look like a skewbald or pinto horse, hence the name. He is slender and slightly feminine-looking, smart, amoral, manipulative, defensive, and sharp-tongued.

6-8 well-developed NPCs including the villains and a sidekick for the PC, all of which are pssible romantic objects for te player to court.

- Abilities
Genetic vampire shapeshifters! ;) The game should challenge the player to use their puzzle-solving abilities and persuasion.

- Tropes
Wings - I love 'em! A capital city with lots of stuff in it. An abandoned culture building (a school, temple, art museam, library, etc.).

- Plots
The villain (major or minor) captures the PC, chains him up, and mocks him by treating him like a dog, patting him on the head, and feeding him table scraps.

- Settings
A race/culture of hermaphrodites, a race/culture of shapeshifters, clans, matriarchies, patriarchies


3) What is not an idea of yours but might be cool to see in a single-player RPG?

- Genre
Science fiction and/or fantasy, comedy, slipstream (crossing between two worlds), historical fantasy, military adventure/comedy...

- Characters
Human characters with anthro traits, or anthro alien characters, a character with an imaginary friend

- Abilities
Magical or mental abilities that depend on the worldbuilding, such that they improve as the player comes to a better understading of the worldbuilding

- Tropes
Totem animals, statues and fountains, art noveau architecture, puzzle-machines, a library, a mini-game about breeding animals and/or growing plants, a cross-dresser

- Plots
worldbuildng mysteries, collective amnesia, apotheosis, subjugation by a foreign/alien race, a 'time loop' framing device

- Settings
Either pre-technological or science-fictional technology but nothing in the middle. E.g. a space station or ship, feudal Japan and Germany, pre-historic tribes, I'd be happy to work up some original alien or fantasy race cultures... Ooh, and a dreamworld or insane world. A petshop, zoo, or nature preserve.


4) Romance has been mentioned a lot recently. Please describe in as much detail as possible how much and what kind of romance you would want the game to have.

An optional romance between the PC and the character Skew I described above. IMO a romance should be treated as something the player can't get into accidently but must earn through dialogue choices, with one of 6-8 'gettable' NPCs like in a dating sim game.


5) If you could only choose one item you have listed above to go into the story, which one would it be?

Optional romance between the PC and a male minor villain.


______________________________________
I'm talking about story in my game developer journal now, so don't forget to go read it. :)

[Edited by - sunandshadow on August 30, 2004 8:00:49 PM]

1) What do you NOT want to see in the story?
- Genre:
- CHARACTERS: Obvious or one-dimension hero or villain, crisp distinction between good and evil
- Abilities:
- Tropes:
- PLOTS: Save the world, or big conspiracy
- Settings:

2) What existing ideas do you have that you would like to possibly put into the story?
- GENRE:
- CHARACTERS:
- ABILITIES:
- TROPES:
- PLOTS:
- SETTINGS:


3) What is not an idea of yours but might be cool to see in a single-player RPG?
- GENRE: romance, romance in realistic settings, mystery
- CHARACTERS: Character with double identities, character forced to lie to loved ones, characters with contrasting laid back mode and serious mode
- ABILITIES: Communication thru dreams, going into someone's dream, or mind reading; summoning
- TROPES: Academy of some sort, summoned guardians, religious places such as monastery or temple, ruins, templars, exorcists, spiritual beings
- PLOTS:Preventing a tragedy from reocurring, deja vu, mixing of two identities or uncertain identities, hypnosis, character being converted or persuaded to change side
- SETTINGS: pre-medieval or medieval fantasy, ancient oriental, semi-historical 17-18th century, modern, overlay or back and forth betweeh two eras

4) Romance has been mentioned a lot recently. Please describe in as much detail as possible how much and what kind of romance you would want the game to have.
The main character choosing between an engaged spouse and an recently reunioned close friend; Character falling in love with someone resulting in a socially unacceptable relationship or relationship unacceptable by the character;

5) If you could only choose one item you have listed above to go into the story, which one would it be?
characters

[Edited by - Estok on August 30, 2004 10:08:29 PM]

Quote:

Original post by Estok Are we talking about an RPG that requires fighting or no? How come there are two 2)? For the second 2) do you mean ideas from other posters or from existing games/movies and such?

o.O Oops, please re-number those to be 1-5. I was thinking that a standard single player RPG would have fighting, although personally I would like a lower percentage of gametime to be taken up by the fighting. What does everyone else think, would you rather make a game with or without fighting?

For the 'not ideas of yours' I meant you had either thought of it or seen it in someone else's stuff, but the important part was that you hadn't already developed the idea or put it into a game design you are working on and weren't committed to the idea.

I would rather have no fighting. Maybe you should state that in your original post too (?)

I am going to just edit my post, please delete this after you have read it :)

Okay, I'll delete these in a bit, but I forgot to ask - how would you define an 'obvious villain'? I was assuming in writing my survey response that there would be some villains, mostly because I find it hard to imagine a game story without villains; what would a game with no 'obvious villains' be like?

like in a dating game there can be no villain. Think about two lovers that got caught in a war, and the story is about how they survive the their other half, with their strong will to get back together again, who is the villain?

I guess I meant no conspiracy, or at least no big conspiracies, just extraordinary stories of ordinary people based on love.

1) What do you _not_ want to see in the story?
- Genre -don't care
- Characters no one sided character except if they obsessed with one thing and only one thing. (eg Ruddy's only desire is to post on gamedev and everything he does is to do that)
- Abilities -being able to be a powerful mage, and warrior, and mercent with the same character
- Tropes -don't care
- Plots Save the World/universe/princess/prince/car/farm
- Settings -don't care

2) What existing ideas do you have that you would like to possibly put into the story (describe in detail please)?
- Genre
- Characters - NPC's that question orders that they have been given to give you:
The player recives his orders from Chris, however Chris is told what orders to give by Dan. After a while chris begins to doubt the reason given for the orders.
- Abilities -balanced a level 5 mage vs a leval 5 warrior should have wins going both ways.
- Tropes
- Plots- 1000 years have passed since the near distruction of the humman race, however the cause this is unknown. Do to lack of resources a fragile peace exist. One day two groups of alians appear on the planet, the first group is hightly technologyicaly advanced, powerful weapons, craft, and have a hatred of spiritural concepts. The second is more antcient in nature, their weaponry is simple, and their only craft is simingly animals that alreay exist on earth (horses for riding, other animals for carring). However they possess a strong spiritual power, that is both offensive and deffensive.

The player-who is a native of the earth can join one of the groups, in their war.
- Settings

3-none

4) Romance has been mentioned a lot recently. Please describe in as much detail as possible how much and what kind of romance you would want the game to have.

One ending might be having a love afair between an Alien from group one and another from group 2.

5. The plot from 2.

Hey, TJ here. I think I'm the one who ended up with the leadership responsibilities in terms of orginizing this project (in the instance that this becomes a team-developement project). With that said, I would like to put out a list of what I would want in this game (my wish list, if you would have it), followed by a sample game plot I am interested in pursuing.

In this project, I would like to see:

- Value in theme: I want a good theme, something deep (maybe emotional self realization). I want a plot that immerses the character in a world with real emotion. I would also note that I would rather not any corny surrealism or cliche morals.

- Bright projection: In conjuction with the above, I want to develope a game with emotional value, but still a cheery presence. You can have nice and humerous go hand in hand with depth (Tales of Symphonia, anyone?) without being a corny, cliche instance (FFXIII, nuf said).

- No World Domination. No one want's to save a world they have nothing to do with. Let's give people a game about people you an care about. It's easy to create feasible people that people can care about, as apposed to a whole world.

- Field action. Most RPGs have three screens. The World Map play, the Field, and the Battle. I would rather tone down time spent in battle and more time exploring and learning and meeting and immersing yourself in the world then constantly not knowing whats around the corner cause of some random battle.

With that said, here is a sample plot that has a possibility of encorperation the above features.

Two characters are in love at a young age. One of the lovers comes down with a special condition or illness. To solve this problem, the other lover (main character) steals/takes by force an obect that would aid her illness or an artifact to keep her well. All is saved

However, the person who got sheisted is pissed and hires a mercenary to get after the object/artifact. The two characters hear this and the characer who needed to be saved is forced to flee her home town (bringing a family member or friend to come with for protection and support) where the mercenary searches for her. The mercenary gets some sort of tip to the fleeing character and starts traveling. When the main character learns the mercenary is hot on his lovers trail, he sets off to stop him. Thus becomes a chasing-the-chaser game.

Twists:

- The main character is the female of the two lovers. Female main character. Nuff said.

- (This is a twist I think is vital to the success of this plot) There is a tribe or group that seeks the relic the fleeing character has. They get to the man who was the origional owner, learn of what happened, and also set out (they also may need this healing object for an important member of their group. I was thinking since it was a healing relic, a nice idea is they have a dying leader, and the heir to the thrown is a prick, so they seek the relic to extend their leaders life.)

- I want the mercenary to be a oung sorceror type. A male character with flair. Serious, but not dark. A young punk 20 year old kinda guy.

This is just a thought. I would right more, but I have to get to sleep. More later, and thanks for participating.

-TJ

1)
- Genre: no preference
- Characters: super-evil wizard
- Abilities: Fireball
- Tropes: Forest-dwelling elves
- Plots: Save the world
- Settings: Tolkein fantasy

2)
- Genre: no preference
- Characters: no preference
- Abilities: physical magics (i.e. flaming fists, heal self)
- Tropes: Craft guilds
- Plots: Law-enforcement style--think Thief on the other side of the law.
- Settings: A modern fantasy. Guns and magic (the only magic being primarily concerned with physical enhancement, nothing like fireball)

3) What is not an idea of yours but might be cool to see in a single-player RPG?
- Genre: No Preference
- Characters: No Preference
- Abilities: Flight (see Dark and Light)
- Tropes: mob!
- Plots: No Preference
- Settings: Fight on a rope bridge over a rushing river.

4) Romance has been mentioned a lot recently. Please describe in as much detail as possible how much and what kind of romance you would want the game to have.
-I'd like to see the romance confined to FF-style. That is: one character interested in another, and may have ramifications, but only in the sense of "go on a quest to save the lover".

5) If you could only choose one item you have listed above to go into the story, which one would it be?
-Modern fantasy.

1) What do you _not_ want to see in the story?
- Genre:
- Characters: The tough guy, the archer/healer (usually a girl), the wizard, and the plucky young kid all as one team.
- Abilities: Magical spells that are over the top (FF7 style spells)
- Tropes: The evil corporation that is destroying the world, or a lone evil figure that you want revenge on for killing your father
- Plots: Being the saviour of the entire world, even though you are just one 11yr old kid. And NO CONSPIRACY PLOTS!
- Settings: Another fantasy game. They have been overdone in my opinion, and are starting to become standard D&D/LOTR settings (trolls, orcs etc.)

2) What existing ideas do you have that you would like to possibly put into the story (describe in detail please)?
- Genre: Dark sci-fi psychological plots. Exploring the dark side of science in the future, asking a lot of moral questions to the player.
- Characters: Characters that are psychologically effected by the plot as it goes on, slowly changing from one personality to another as the game progresses, perhaps leaving some characters incapacitated in extreme cases. They should also have one or two major faults in the way they spend their lives.
- Abilities: I think abilities that need to be explained as the game goes on have always been a favourite of mine. Allows for lots of plot twists.
- Tropes: Im actually not to sure what tropes means [sad]
- Plots: Stories that make you think long after you have stopped playing the game. There should be moral issues that the player spends their spare time thinking about, and trying to figure out the intricate plot twists in the game. I never write stories that are straight forward, I always try to ask more questions than I answer (Not surprisingly, David Lynch is one of my favourite directors [grin])
- Settings: New cultures that the both the player and in game character have no idea about ( example in your other thread )

3)
Pretty much the same as above

4) Romance has been mentioned a lot recently. Please describe in as much detail as possible how much and what kind of romance you would want the game to have.

A romance story should be about struggle and overcoming adversity. So having a story where even the player believes that the main characters should never fall in love with each other works nicely. So, if it’s a human girl, and a boy space lizard, then as the game goes on really play up the girls character so that the player really starts to feel as though that character is someone that they would probably fall for in real life as well. Then show the space lizards angst as it tries to overcome its feelings that it knows is wrong, and the player will hopefully start to feel extremely sympathetic towards the space lizard. (I hope that makes sense)

5) If you could only choose one item you have listed above to go into the story, which one would it be?
Stories that make you think long after you have stopped playing the game.

1) What do you _not_ want to see in the story?
I don't want to see elves, dwarves, halfings, or orcs.

2) What existing ideas do you have that you would like to possibly put into the story (describe in detail please)?
A sci-fi/fantasy combination. All human characters that come from different eras/times on Earth...our Earth. Magic, technology, chaos, evil and twisted bad guys, and the world coming to an end. Time rifts and special powers.

3) What is not an idea of yours but might be cool to see in a single-player RPG?


eh...

4) Romance has been mentioned a lot recently. Please describe in as much detail as possible how much and what kind of romance you would want the game to have.

I think a tension setting romance would be awesome in game. Nothing super mushy, but not undeniable either. I'm even interested in haveing the hero/heroine and villan have a twisted crush thing going on...Say the villan is in love with the hero/ine, but is so "evil" that being denied only spurns more trouble for the good guy/gal.

5) If you could only choose one item you have listed above to go into the story, which one would it be?


Contact me at: evie_enchantress@yahoo.com

Quote:

Original post by boolean - Tropes: Im actually not to sure what tropes means [sad]

Oh, sorry - tropes are just objects that occur in the story; they usually have connotative value (because you've seen them other places before) or symbolic value (because of they way they are thought of in your culture) and they help establish the setting/theme. Some examples: unicorns, animate trees, ninjas, pirates, vampires, a sword with a personality, psychic riding animals, giant clocktowers, zepplins, werewolves, vampires, zombies, ray guns, genies, faeries...

1) What do you _not_ want to see in the story?
- Genre: fantasy typical over zealous magic fanatics
- Characters: unmoral with no inner conflict and no love for life
- Abilities: unimaginable secret abilities, (able to leap tall buildings in a single bound)
not just saying the words of a spell or from a spell book, no typical spells (fireball lighting bolt, etc…)
- Tropes: all of them
- Plots: twisted, sick, demented, non-moral, agonizingly untrue, materialistic, Hollywood romance, end of the world, disease, sexual, boring, narrow minded.
- Settings: Medieval and Tolkien rip offs, anything modern earth related

2) What existing ideas do you have that you would like to possibly put into the story (describe in detail please)?
- Genre: futuristic (no typical sci-fi and not fantasy and not nearly close to either.)
- Characters: Multitude of characters whose interactions are the game play
- Abilities: magic that relies on thought and mind puzzles
- Tropes: completely different technological tools and devices
- Plots: Explained somewhat in the answer to question 4
- Settings: Millions of eons into the future where humanity no longer exists if it existed at all. New races ideas religions technologies nothing based on earth something completely new and defined only by the history of those objects starting from nomads to a advanced civilization

3) What is not an idea of yours but might be cool to see in a single-player RPG?
- Genre: none
- Characters: none
- Abilities: none
- Tropes: none
- Plots: none
- Settings: none

4) Romance has been mentioned a lot recently. Please describe in as much detail as possible how much and what kind of romance you would want the game to have.

Damsel in distress where nobility and chivalry are a part of the culture and there is a sense of holiness. Something that the player will like about the character and the more they play the more they love the character. Start out with a very interesting battle/mystery and the player has to solve it. Or where the player has to discover something about his/her dreams through game play. He/she has dreams in which seem meaningless and he/she gets clues from his/her life as to what they mean. They mean he/she is in love with someone who he/she interacts with and leading up to this is the process of making him/her fall in love with one or all of the characters in the game. (lots of he/she's in there )

5) If you could only choose one item you have listed above to go into the story, which one would it be?

Setting for number 2

Quote:

Original post by DesignerGuy 5) If you could only choose one item you have listed above to go into the story, which one would it be? -Modern fantasy.

Is modern fantasy the same as magic realism? What sort of properties would the setting have to have to make it qualify as modern fantasy?

Quote:

3) What is not an idea of yours but might be cool to see in a single-player RPG? - Abilities: Flight (see Dark and Light) - Tropes: mob!

Could you provide a link to Dark and Light? And would that be 'a mob' as in a lynch mob, or 'The Mob' as in organized crime?

[Edited by - sunandshadow on August 31, 2004 1:53:15 PM]

Ditto sunandshadow!! We almost think the same.

In my opinion:
- you are not a hero
- you are not only one trying to acomplish main goal, npc's are to (this gives nice rivalry)

- no "save the world" scenario
- interesting world build around a story, not a setting (key events)

I would like to see some sci-fi scenario or good combination of sci-fi and fantasy. Also PC and NPC independance.

PS.
Can somebody link me to that forum where story was created with posts? About some weird and bizzare planet that died and some astronaut (female Russian?) is experiencing this past world

Quote:

Original post by ffx Ditto sunandshadow!! We almost think the same. In my opinion: - you are not a hero - you are not only one trying to acomplish main goal, npc's are too (this gives nice rivalry) - no "save the world" scenario - interesting world build around a story, not a setting (key events) I would like to see some sci-fi scenario or good combination of sci-fi and fantasy. Also PC and NPC independance. PS. Can somebody link me to that forum where story was created with posts? About some weird and bizzare planet that died and some astronaut (female Russian?) is experiencing this past world

Do you mean the original Forum Game?

Anyway, while it's flattering that you want to agree with me, if you don't fill out the survey, especally question #5, how can I figure out how to count your opinions when I tally the surveys? o.O

Okay, since everyone's had more than 24 hours to respond to this thread, let's sum up.

Conflicts:
DesignerGuy - Genre - Modern Fantasy

Gamegod - Plot - 1000 years have passed since the near distruction of the humman race, however the cause this is unknown. Due to lack of resources a fragile peace exist. One day two groups of aliens appear on the planet, the first group is highly technologically advanced, with powerful weapons, craft, and have a hatred of spiritural concepts. The second is more ancient in nature, their weaponry is simple, and their only craft are seemingly animals that already exist on earth (horses for riding, other animals for carrying). However, they possess a strong spiritual power, that is both offensive and defensive.

5MinuteGaming- Setting - Millions of eons into the future, humanity no longer exists if it existed at all. New races, ideas, religions, technologies, nothing based on earth, something completely new and defined only by the history of those objects starting from nomads to a advanced civilization.

TraderJack, these three (above) conflict, so you get to sort that out. ;) My suggestion is go with Boolean's idea and make the (alien/fantasy) game cultures totally foreign to the (human) PC, because this makes for a nice game dynamic where the PC and player start out equally ignorant and learn together. I also suggest that the science fiction and fantasy elements be put together into the same world, not separated like in _The Longest Journey_ because we want to be able to play them off of each other.


Stuff that fits together:
Terlenth - Genre - Science Fantasy
Cangor - Characters - Deep Characters
Estok - Characters - Characters with double lives and moral grey areas
TechnoGoth - Abilities - All abilites come from either tools, or are taught in some kind of school. Abilities should be used to overcome diffrent challenges, obstacles and puzzles.
Sunandshadow - Plot - Optional romance between PC and male minor villain
Boolean - Plot - Stories that make you think long after you have stopped playing the game. There should be moral issues that the player spends their spare time thinking about, and trying to figure out the intricate plot twists in the game.

TraderJack

- Value in theme: I want a good theme, something deep (maybe emotional self realization). I want a plot that immerses the character in a world with real emotion. I would also note that I would rather not [use] any corny surrealism or cliche morals.

- Bright projection: In conjuction with the above, I want to develop a game with emotional value, but still a cheery presence. You can have nice and humorous go hand in hand with depth (Tales of Symphonia, anyone?) without being a corny, cliche instance (FFXIII, nuf said).

- No World Domination. No one wants to save a world they have nothing to do with. Let's give people a game about people you an care about. It's easy to create feasible people that people can care about, as apposed to a whole world.

- Field action. Most RPGs have three screens. The World Map play, the Field, and the Battle. I would rather tone down time spent in battle and more time exploring and learning and meeting and immersing yourself in the world then constantly not knowing what's around the corner cause of some random battle.


So, the seed of our game design doc:


Writing Forum Collaborative Game

Statement of purpose: We, the members of the gamedev writing forum, will pool our talents to create a science-fantasy game story for a single player RPG with a branching story and multiple endings and optional romance. The game will feature deep, complex characters and pondering of moral ambiguity, but will maintain a positive tone. The worldbuilding will be vivid and immersive with mysteries for the player to uncover, tools forhim/her to master, and ablities for him/her to learn, because the PC will not start out with any inherent special abilities. The plot will be complex. Gameplay will minimize battle and maximize world exploration and puzzles.


[edit Added TechnoGoth :) ]
Anybody object to anything in there?



[Edited by - sunandshadow on September 1, 2004 10:48:45 AM]