Hypothetical concept: Memory Lost

Burgers2013

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Thebazilly said:
Some_weirdGuy said:
Better yet, everyone EXCEPT the player has amnesia, and you have to decide who and what each of their stories are, and set them to work - the repercussions of this lead to all sorts of dramatic narrative, thrilling action, existential quandary, and comedy gold.

You have a list of scrambled titles, nouns, adjectives, etc, and a group of people all standing around wondering who they are and what they should get to work doing. You can find clues around the place which may hint to who is what, and you better hope you set the right person for the right task or trouble will ensue! it's like the sims meets guess who meets cluedo meets point and click adventure puzzle solving.

You could then indeed decide one of the amnesiac characters is your 'gay man who was nearly murdered and whose family is trying to marry him off to some lady', and the person standing next to him... well you decide he's a dog in disguise as a human, there to disarm the bomb.

But then where is the bomb... or WHO is the bomb!? oh the humanity!
I would play this game. I would play the shit out of it.
Seconded, but only if there are 55 totally unique possible endings.
 

Ikajo

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Eh...I starting to feel like I should explain a bit more of the game play (I was sleeping when you guys wrote this, being night in my country and all).

I think of it as first person perspective where you actually move around as the character, seeing through his eyes (you're gamers, you get the deal.) It's both through specific items and through dialogue that you get the clues about who the character is and what's happening. You sometimes need a specific item or talked with a certain person to make the story continue to unfold. When I write the summary of the story, I know some parts of my thoughts gets lost. It's not like everything is known from the beginning. For example, the male lover don't try to tell him they lovers himself, fearing he scare the young man/player and fearing retribution from the family. The family is trying to make him think that he's been supposed to marry the fiancée for quite a while. (It will not be to obvious anyway)
Yes, you know, like the plot is slowly unfolding, becoming more complex with time.

It somewhat text based as the characters thought's are conveyed through a dialogue box at the bottom of the IF. The thought's correspond to the NPC:s around and the things he(the player) looks at, the conversation with NPC:s and so on. It's not that you necessarily will need to pick up the item, you may just have to see it. It could be a picture or furniture, a scenery and so fourth.

Something like that. Maybe it become a little clearer?
 

Ikajo

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I should also say, I don't try to say I would try and make this game myself. Rather I would like to work with people who can create games and simply provide a thought through story for the game and the game play. As I don't want separate the game play from the story, making the player experience the story through game play, as a part of the story. That's why I try to think of them at the same time.

And really, I'm not trying to make something violent, more like intriguing.
 

RafaelNegrus

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Ikajo said:
Eh...I starting to feel like I should explain a bit more of the game play (I was sleeping when you guys wrote this, being night in my country and all).

I think of it as first person perspective where you actually move around as the character, seeing through his eyes (you're gamers, you get the deal.) It's both through specific items and through dialogue that you get the clues about who the character is and what's happening. You sometimes need a specific item or talked with a certain person to make the story continue to unfold. When I write the summary of the story, I know some parts of my thoughts gets lost. It's not like everything is known from the beginning. For example, the male lover don't try to tell him they lovers himself, fearing he scare the young man/player and fearing retribution from the family. The family is trying to make him think that he's been supposed to marry the fiancée for quite a while. (It will not be to obvious anyway)
Yes, you know, like the plot is slowly unfolding, becoming more complex with time.

It somewhat text based as the characters thought's are conveyed through a dialogue box at the bottom of the IF. The thought's correspond to the NPC:s around and the things he(the player) looks at, the conversation with NPC:s and so on. It's not that you necessarily will need to pick up the item, you may just have to see it. It could be a picture or furniture, a scenery and so fourth.

Something like that. Maybe it become a little clearer?
That COULD be interesting, but it could also be really bad. If I were you I would ask what role the player has in the story. If there is just the one singular story, and all the player does is click things to move through, then I would say this might be the wrong medium. BUT it could be interesting if there were essentially different endings or possibilities to mess up. And then you would want to give each of those endings or failures meanings of their own, hopefully all of it tying together into a meaningful whole or a discussion on an interesting topic.

But it is important to ask why this would be a game rather than a book or interactive novel. Or as one guy suggested, interpretive dance.
 

bug_of_war

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Ikajo said:
Your game sounds like a really good Newgrounds/AddictingGames game. Nothing more, nothing less. Your lack of understanding of making games added with the basic premise and, "Amnesia...point and click adventure" just screams first time game that will be free to play on a website. I don't mean to shoot you down, but from what you've given us that's really all I can conclude.
 

Faluva

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OP, what are you trying to prove with this thread? Looking for investors or like-minded game devs? Won't happen.

You clearly lack knowledge, and most importantly, any valuable experience. Ever done any game / level design, 3D modelling? Or even mild scripting?
 

Ikajo

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Faluva said:
OP, what are you trying to prove with this thread? Looking for investors or like-minded game devs? Won't happen.

You clearly lack knowledge, and most importantly, any valuable experience. Ever done any game / level design, 3D modelling? Or even mild scripting?
I'm not trying to do anything, I wanted to know if people though it sounded interesting. Telling the idea to a friend or sitting around by myself don't give very much. I'm aiming to be an author one day and I tell stories in different ways all the time. I've even directed a theatre play. And if I could get my friends on boards I would try to make videos.

I studied a short course of game design this summer. Otherwise I would never even known half the words used in gaming (English is not my first language so it wasn't obvious) and while I didn't understood everything, me not being much of a gamer and all. But still, even before the course I got interested in interactive storytelling and the parts I did understand without problem where storytelling and character development. You don't need those things in games? It's not a good thing that someone with experience in character creation and storytelling becomes interested in your media? And wants to try creating something for you guys.

_____________________________

And before anyone says anything about me not being a gamer. My family is lower middle class, we didn't have a lot of money when I grew up and the first game counsel in my house was Nitendo Wii. Before that and even now I play PC games, mostly The Sims. It's not that I'm not interested, I've got no clue about what's around! I more of a bookworm. When I walk into a game shop, I see a lot of games that I know NOTHING about. And games are expensive, I'm a student, living on little money. What I experience is like what I guess most of you would experience if you went to a book shop or the library and was told to try to find a book you like that you never read before in a genre that's new to you. Even if the shop clerk or librarian tries to help you, you have no idea what you like. And even then you come out at lesser expense than me, book are quite cheap (in comparison) and at the library, it's free!

Maybe you can understand why I'm not much of a gamer? Does that disqualify me from being interested?
 

AWAR

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There's no reason to try to justify your lack of video game knowledge. Games are not about class or money but actual interest. If you were interested, you would have done research or tried to find games to play. It's clear that you were not interested in video games and that's nothing to be apologetic for.

As for the concept, story-wise it isn't very compelling to me for a number of reasons. The amnesia trope is a terrible cliche. It's the "Mc Donald's" of plot devices. Secondly how exactly the protagonist's family are using his amnesia to manipulate his love life in such a way? As far as I'm aware, and correct me if I'm wrong, sexual preference isn't affected by memory loss. It's also fair to say that I can't really relate to the main character at all, and I'm afraid that's crucial for such a game.
 

Ikajo

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AWAR said:
There's no reason to try to justify your lack of video game knowledge. Games are not about class or money but actual interest. If you were interested, you would have done research or tried to find games to play. It's clear that you were not interested in video games and that's nothing to be apologetic for.

As for the concept, story-wise it isn't very compelling to me for a number of reasons. The amnesia trope is a terrible cliche. It's the "Mc Donald's" of plot devices. Secondly how exactly the protagonist's family are using his amnesia to manipulate his love life in such a way? As far as I'm aware, and correct me if I'm wrong, sexual preference isn't affected by memory loss. It's also fair to say that I can't really relate to the main character at all, and I'm afraid that's crucial for such a game.
I'm interested, but I'm interested in a lot of stuff, that's why I can't focus one just one thing. If I could do that life would be easy.

It's true that sexual preference is in ones nature but it's still something discovered by experience it, I would know, I'm bisexual. If you forgotten you've fallen in love with a man, you lack the experience necessary to judge. Besides, I haven't specified the characters sexuality, I just said he has a male lover.

It's really all right to not like my idea. I think personally that it's more likely to appeal to a female audience anyway. Being more oriented to experiencing than challenging. I'm not stupid enough to think that this is an idea that could be realised easily. But haven't stopped me before, heck I want to become a world famous author one day. Why not dream big?
 

AWAR

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I'd agree with the dreaming big thing and wish you good luck with achieving what you want, whether it is a game or a novel.
There are strong story-driven games that you could draw inspiration from namely The Blackwell Legacy, Syberia (basically anything by Benoit Sokal) , The Longest Journey. I hear Gone Home is also good.
 

Luca72

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Let me make a suggestion OP. You started the post talking about a game idea. Then you described your game as "kind of point and click" and a "mystery game". Then you proceeded to tell the story of the game for the rest of the post. You mentioned later that you haven't thought much about the mechanics.

Do you see what's happening? You have a good idea for a story, but you have an urge to make it a game even though you don't know how to make a game yourself. You're putting up an unnecessary creative roadblock. Have you considered simply writing this out as a short story, screenplay, or novel? You can always turn it back into a game if you see more of an angle to do so.

The reason I say this is because even though it's a good idea for a story, I honestly don't think I'd play that game. The only thing that stood out to me in terms of it being a game was that it centered around a gay romance, and a family that takes the first opportunity they get to try to do what they think is "best" for their amnesiac son. A gay romance at the core of a story is pretty unique as far as games go. But that plot point alone has enough meat on it for you to make into a three act structure - I just don't see any reason it would have to be a game.
 

Luca72

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Oooh, I hate to double post, but I just thought of something. Remember how in Phoenix Wright you would explore a static image of a room full of contents, and when you clicked on something "useable" you would get more information or add it to your inventory? In that game you were looking for things relevent to your CASE, which had information and a summary you could view elsewhere.

Well, in this game maybe you could have a "family story". As in, your life story, as told by your family. But it turns out to be an elaborate lie. For example, maybe you pick up a photo in your home of yourself, and the date on the photo conflicts with something the family mentioned. Now that part of the story is in question. You can press family members on that point, but if you press too hard, they become defensive. Eventually you can reveal the item in question, calling them on their lie. As the game goes, you learn who you really are. Maybe there could even be a "family dinner" chokepoint to the game, where everyone sits down and tries to reframe the narrative for you - the amount of information you've built up to that point determines how this meeting goes.

Plus, having the main character appear as a generic video game protagonist, only to discover he's a rich gay man might be the single most genius turnaround in a game yet!
 

Ikajo

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Luca72 said:
Oooh, I hate to double post, but I just thought of something. Remember how in Phoenix Wright you would explore a static image of a room full of contents, and when you clicked on something "useable" you would get more information or add it to your inventory? In that game you were looking for things relevent to your CASE, which had information and a summary you could view elsewhere.

Well, in this game maybe you could have a "family story". As in, your life story, as told by your family. But it turns out to be an elaborate lie. For example, maybe you pick up a photo in your home of yourself, and the date on the photo conflicts with something the family mentioned. Now that part of the story is in question. You can press family members on that point, but if you press too hard, they become defensive. Eventually you can reveal the item in question, calling them on their lie. As the game goes, you learn who you really are. Maybe there could even be a "family dinner" chokepoint to the game, where everyone sits down and tries to reframe the narrative for you - the amount of information you've built up to that point determines how this meeting goes.

Plus, having the main character appear as a generic video game protagonist, only to discover he's a rich gay man might be the single most genius turnaround in a game yet!
I'm answering your two posts at the same time. I do say in the first post that this is an game narrative idea rather than the game itself. But hey, games also need good narrative right. I'm not near finished the whole story. I can't keep that much information in my head. Right now I have about 12-13 novel ideas (or more, haven't counted in a while...), and two of those ideas are trilogy's, one play (for theatre), three on going stories, ideas for my blogg and three ideas for games, including this one. If I tried to flesh them all out before actually working on them, I think I would lose my mind...and I do remember the concept for each and one of them. Just not when I'm not thinking about them...

I like your idea, it sounds good. That's more like the mechanics that I can use and flesh out with the actual story. You beginning to see why I wouldn't mind working with people who can do this part but maybe can't do my part, the story itself? May I take your idea and add it to mine? I don't think it really will become a game one day but who knows what the future might hold.

(I've never heard of Phoenix Wright...to me games are like this sea of titels and I got no clue at ALL. I mean I tried reading the Divine Comedy when I was like 14...)

I actually posted the idea on a other site (in my native language) and the first response was from a person loving the idea. So I guess the success of a game depends on reaching the people who might be interested.
 

Luca72

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Ikajo said:
Luca72 said:
In response to the last thing you said, yeah, you can only hope for niche appeal with a game like this. That's not a bad thing though - I think small devoted fanbases are way more interesting than super-broad ones.
You can check Youtube for some Phoenix Wright gameplay and you'll see what I mean, but really it's probably a standard adventure game format. Feel to use my idea - like I said, it just clicked in my mind how this could work a few seconds after posting.

How many of these ideas do you actually write out? I have a similar issue where I have a ton of stories going through my mind at any one point, but I almost always have one that really stands out. Right now I've got one that started as a game idea, but became too large and story-focused on its own, so I'm working on making it into a comic right now. The reason I bring this up is I still think this story could work better as a traditional story first. Maybe you should try writing it out from start to finish, and then if you happen to encounter someone with the skills to make a game but no ideas, you have a complete idea you can show them. Just don't get too attached to any one thing when it may be better if its changed.
 

Ikajo

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Luca72 said:
Ikajo said:
Luca72 said:
In response to the last thing you said, yeah, you can only hope for niche appeal with a game like this. That's not a bad thing though - I think small devoted fanbases are way more interesting than super-broad ones.
You can check Youtube for some Phoenix Wright gameplay and you'll see what I mean, but really it's probably a standard adventure game format. Feel to use my idea - like I said, it just clicked in my mind how this could work a few seconds after posting.

How many of these ideas do you actually write out? I have a similar issue where I have a ton of stories going through my mind at any one point, but I almost always have one that really stands out. Right now I've got one that started as a game idea, but became too large and story-focused on its own, so I'm working on making it into a comic right now. The reason I bring this up is I still think this story could work better as a traditional story first. Maybe you should try writing it out from start to finish, and then if you happen to encounter someone with the skills to make a game but no ideas, you have a complete idea you can show them. Just don't get too attached to any one thing when it may be better if its changed.
Right now? I'm writing on the play, the three on going stories - two of them will become novels in time. One of them is halfway done (ten chapters) and I've been writing in four years. The second story is approaching it's end but it not as long as the first one, I've writing it for two years on an online site, it's kind of erotic. The last story is actually a fan-fic and it's just me trying something new - see if I can capture someone else's character in a story of my own, using the original setting. The play it's less than a year old. The other novels is resting till the day comes for me to write them, if I want to become an author is a good thing to have lot's of different stories (yes, they different, I proud myself with the fact that each story is different from the others. Don't take lightly on this! I have a friend who have over 50 stories, and they quite the same!). Right now I'm also studying Professional writing at my collage (first year of three) so I write for school to. No problem, I've had some of the ideas for years without any troubles.

I don't really want to make this a normal story. I got two reasons.
1. Because the way I think. Depending on what I try to create my mind works differently. Short-story one way, play one way, movie one way, novel one way, game one way. And it's not limited to writing. In my teens I tried make manga (yes manga), it didn't turn out very well but I learned to draw quite good. But my stories where to complex for my drawing skills. And to this point there is only one story I've manage to change from manga to text and that's is the play. Why? Well...I got this one story I really wish I could draw. It just wouldn't do as good in text. In manga/comics you can tell a story through silence. I made four pages, with just one textbubble, letting the pictures tell the story. You can't do that in text. You can't tell a story through silence. It's the same with games, I can't tell the same story through text as I can trough a game. In a game I can (hypothetically)let the player actually experience the story, so when I think of the story my mind creates the actual images for the game. Which lead me to the next reason.
2. I don't separate the actual game play from the story. I want the game play to be a part of the story, not two different entities without the need of each other. You don't think that could make way for a more interesting game than those that first focus on game play and then try to plaster a story to the game play? Or the other way around.

I don't really mind if this never becomes a game. It would be fun and nice of course but it's not like that's all my life is. I tell stories everyday, in some way. Most of them stay as my own entertainment but also allow me to test things within the recess of my mind. Letting me understand how people think and work. Making kind of a game in my head also allows me to think differently than usual. I'm not really your normal kind of person...
 

Cmdr Keen

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Is it going to have one of those scenes where the frustrated lover takes the protagonist by force, which makes him realize just how much he wants the D?

Because if it is, at the very least I'd say it won't have much mainstream gaming appeal.
 

Ikajo

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Nope, I don't do that kind of stuff. If you really love someone and care about someone, then you are gentle and care for them even more when they need you.
I can't really show what I already written unless you can read Swedish, because I'm already writing a story with a gay couple. That's a romance but still.