Extra Punctuation: An Invisible Protagonist

[Phishfood]

It was the "making other characters think an NPC is mad" mechanic that interested me the most

it would be hilarious to just start pelting them with office stationery or something, then stop when another npc runs in..

"but.. but.. i swear, the stapler just flew over and hit me in the head!!"

"shh,.. ok leroy, i think its time you went home.."

"but!.. but the stapler!.."

"shh, its ok, you've had a long day..."

I think that is probably the biggest problem with the game inadvertantly identified. If you put the game "on rails" ie - figure out the one and only solution the dev's intended it becomes a boring "need the walkthrough" kind of game. On the other hand, if you fill the game with a million different objects you can use dialogue like that becomes impossible. do you really record different dialogue for throwing the stapler/hole punch/HP Laserjet 5000/drinks can/kitchen sink?

 

[JonnWood]

I believe it was Cracked who proposed a game involving setting up elaborate Final Destination style coincidences to kill people. Like having a plane fly into a home game of the target's favorite baseball team to give him a heart attack. If the proposed game allowed something like that--no, wait, too many variables.

Also, what about turning on radios to cover up noise? Or dropping a burner cell phone that one of the mooks can either turn into lost and found (getting them out of the way), or keep (allowing you to track them via a hidden transmitter in said phone).

Incidentally, there's a scene in Hollow Man where the title character drags a guy into a pool and holds him until he drowns. His wife looks out the door and sees what looks like her husband having fallen in the pool, and rushes inside to call for help(she's old, you see). Husband dies, title character staggers out of the pool with water dripping off him and into the bushes. All that the police will have is some mysterious footprints.

 

[The SettingSun]

I think this would work well in a vampire game. You have to sneak into people's houses, bite them and somehow convince the victims they were going mad and they were just dreaming. If you disturbed something in their room then they'd realise somebody had been sneaking in. Not sure how it would pan out into a full game but it would work well with the mechanic yahtzee was suggesting.

 

[messy]

While it's not exactly what you're looking for, there's a Hal-Life 2 mod called the Hidden where one character is permanently invisible, and everyone else has to hunt him down, while he silently takes them out. It's fun and genuinely unnerving to be playing visible.

Check it out, maybe.

Edit: Oh, there's a ninja.

So what you're saying is, you didn't see the other person post? Interesting...

OT: I think it sounds pretty cool actually. And it does raise a good point since I completed some levels of Splinter cell by just running around and being quick with the melee button. Hell even when you shoot out the lights it makes it pretty obvious.

Long term stealth, perhaps even with your success on mission A determining the preliminary threat level on mission B. Although it'd make sense to save that for a "hard-core" mode because other wise difficulty would increase exponentially and you'd be screwed by mission E.

 

[warrenEBB]

this sounds like the basis for a kick ass Kinect game.

- there's something weird about Kinect already, were you feel strangely disembodied.
- and I'd wager we'll soon find that the best Kinect games are those where you just act like your real-wold body IS the avatar and the tv is just a window into the setting (this way you don't have to worry about matching up some cartoony in-game hand to your real world hand.)

Call it "Somebody's waching me"

 

[Anchupom]

I'd buy just the plinth.

Or even better, a transparent PVC figurine that would become gradually more visible the less you looked after it.

 

[Anchupom]

I believe it was Cracked who proposed a game involving setting up elaborate Final Destination style coincidences to kill people. Like having a plane fly into a home game of the target's favorite baseball team to give him a heart attack. If the proposed game allowed something like that--no, wait, too many variables.

Also, what about turning on radios to cover up noise? Or dropping a burner cell phone that one of the mooks can either turn into lost and found (getting them out of the way), or keep (allowing you to track them via a hidden transmitter in said phone).

Incidentally, there's a scene in Hollow Man where the title character drags a guy into a pool and holds him until he drowns. His wife looks out the door and sees what looks like her husband having fallen in the pool, and rushes inside to call for help(she's old, you see). Husband dies, title character staggers out of the pool with water dripping off him and into the bushes. All that the police will have is some mysterious footprints.

Can you get me a link on that Cracked article? I wanna read more into it

 

[TheBaron87]

If anyone was curious, there's already a game where you can play as someone permanently invisible. It's called The Hidden: Source. Although I'm pretty sure it's not what Yahtzee is looking for. Still a very awesome game.

 

[XaVierDK]

I enjoyed playing Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and Double Agent like this...
True, in my first couple playthroughs, I would use the occasional gunshot or knife-stab to take out a guard.. But in my later play-throughs, I made it a point of honor not to be spotted, and not take out a single guard... I even stopped shooting out lights (thank god for the EMP attachment to your pistol)... I actually got through the entire game without taking out a single guard... It was awesome!
This was even harder in Double Agent as a few of the missions were based in broad daylight, and even one in a blazing snowstorm... Only problem in Double Agent was that some of the missions required you to take out everyone... But it was a mission objective, so I digress...
That's what made Chaos Theory and Double Agent my favorite Splinter Cell games... You had a lot more freedom in how you wanted to do the missions, they were a lot less linear in their level design (compared to the original and Pandora Tomorrow), and you didn't EVER actually have to take out anyone... IIRC, I might be wrong, haven't played the games for a couple years...
Suffice to say I miss the series as it was before Conviction (which is NOT a Splinter Cell game.. I'm not saying it's a bad game, but Splinter Cell it is not)...

Best regards

 

[SandroTheMaster]

That's his first game idea that I actually think could work.

When he pitched his "depowering RPG" idea it irked me because it was something that had already been done. It was called Oblivion and everyone hated enemies leveling with you and ultimately surpassing you in power if you weren't optimized in your build. It was stupid, artificial and simply killed all sense of progression in the game.

But the permanent invisibility? That's genius! Heck, halfway there I was thinking "It be even more awesome if you could use this power to make people mad" and he actually went and said pretty much that! Plus the voyeuristic factor is just gold.

The problem is production. This game would be extremely expensive and difficult to make. In other games sometimes you have mooks trash-talk, and the like, but they usually only have a couple of lines before you ruin their day. This game would need every NPC character to have full conversations with every other NPC characters to keep it from feeling artificial or unfinished. Which is just too bad.

Unless someone actually adopts my idea of locking 2 or more voice actors in a room and simply recording them all day. I don't see what's the problem everyone see with this idea...

 

[SmileyBat]

I would buy that figurine xD

 

[BlueMage]

I'm pleased to see he remembers the framing mission. One my favourites. Aw hell, all of the Thief 2 ones are my favourites because, with few exceptions, there are NO FUCKING ZOMBIES!

Also, bloody hell, I'd buy that game.

Edit: Actually, now that I remember, plenty of FMs (sorry, Fan Missions) actually had the ghosting requirement on Expert. Dammit, now I'm feeling nostalgic and getting the urge to load up Thief 2 again.

 

[Monk Ed]

The problem is production. This game would be extremely expensive and difficult to make. In other games sometimes you have mooks trash-talk, and the like, but they usually only have a couple of lines before you ruin their day. This game would need every NPC character to have full conversations with every other NPC characters to keep it from feeling artificial or unfinished. Which is just too bad.

This can be solved in one fell swoop by just not bothering with voice acting. Seriously, not every game needs it, in fact the more interactive it is the less voice acting it can tolerate! If you're going to be invisible, why not combine it with a weird voice distortion effect that makes everyone sound muffled and far away, (and unintelligible,) and play it off as some side effect of the invisibility, further distancing you from the people you torment? Perhaps describe the character as cursed to become distant from people. Maybe, instead of even having subtitles, your character is cursed to be unable to understand anyone period.

 

[Conn1496]

There IS one flaw in this idea Yahtzee: If the main character is invisible, then who will we have to clutter-up our American box art?

It's possible that the invisible man has a social life, so there would probably be some floating clothes with shades and a dodgy hat that says "Hey, I'm super cliché". Most heroes have a back story, let me bring you to the Extra Credits' Other M video. We knew very little about Samus, but we could pull bits from her life and piece it together. I'd assume that's what the invisible man would be like.

As for the game idea, It would be pretty awesome. Being completely invisible could have it's up and down sides. It's possible that during the last few missions, you are known worldwide, and that many companies have started defending themselves with mud-bombs, and other invisibility revealing stuff, or that citizens believe that after a few missions, you're a poltergeist, and that you need to be killed. Either way you could toy with the idea MEGA style. Unlike the infinite cloak glitch in Oblivion, being invisible, but still noticeable, could be the new "gaming thrill" so to speak.

I can see one drawback... You'll need invisible clothes, otherwise, one splash with mud would reveal your invisible-man tackle...
How many women have imagined that?.. Sorry, I had to make that joke...*cough*

 

[Zetsubou^-^]

stealth games that are based around stealth are few and far between, but i will stick up for metal gear in that the higher difficulties punish alerts more severely, with the highest being immediate fail. and really, you don't HAVE to kill/knockout people.

geist is similar to yahtzee's suggestion, but it wasn't implemented well. i think the enemies usually knew who was possessed really quick, and there were people you couldn't let die that jump in front of bullets. the main difference was that you couldn't do a lot unless you possessed someone/thing, which is not the same as moving through a space as a corporeal but invisible being.

stealth is fun, but yeah, its hard to tune difficulty for invisibility. the suspicion idea is a pretty good idea if you can do it right. it'd have to be really good AI though.

>.> Yahtzee comes up with such great ideas. its too bad he doesn't apply them, or someone else uses them.

 

[Mazza35]

I think, take out the 'made invisible' and have some sort of a cloak generator, and if guards think your there (Very high suspicion) they set off an EMP of some sort and completely decloak you, obviously you might have a knife but you basically are dead.

 

[Xariat]

try the half life mod "the hidden: source" (http://www.hidden-source.com/) its a online pvp shooter which one play as the hidden, an invisible monster who feeds on flesh, and the other players play the elite squad I.R.I.S who are tasked to kill the invisible monster, its actually great fun when you get used to the controls

 

[aarontg]

Actually that sounds really interesting. It would be like hitman but silent assassin rating is mandatory.