Interactive Storytelling
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
- Start date
With the topic of this storytelling in mind, I would like to suggest Choice of the Dragon [http://www.choiceofgames.com/dragon/] as an interesting foray into this type of gameplay. It in fact sounds a lot like Fork. It's fast, which means multiple playthroughs are easily viable, and it is at least competently written. I got a big kick out of it, and if you liked the idea of Fork, you should give it a try.
I would generally agree. I think Heavy Rain was flawed in a simple way of that it was too linear. Everything is linear to a point, it has to be...even boiled down to basics all everything is, is a corridor. Something more pretty than other but a corridor none the less.
I would love to see more of a criss-cross of them though, different elements/decision/actions lead down alternate routes.
I would love to see more of a criss-cross of them though, different elements/decision/actions lead down alternate routes.
Is Fun Space Game first person or third? If it's third, you could take a similar approach to the Scarecrow levels from Arkham Asylum and produce a player death whenever the avatar enters the scan range.
Heavy rain sounds like it tries to pull off what Westwood studios did with Bladerunner. I think it was released back in 97 or 98 (thereabouts at least). It followed another blade runner than the movies, but was in many respects similar. The interesting thing was that wether or not many of the main suspects were replicants or not changed from playthrough to playthrough, forcing the player down different paths and endings. From blowing up the replicants and heading off with the other bladerunner as a partner, to your dog being shot and fleeing to the moon with replicant dna. I think there were somewhere between 10 and 13 endings, not all of which being available in every playthrough.
Instakills are always hated though unless they're alluded to. If you have a neon-blue/green scanning area that can be seen "somehow", and straying into that is insta-death, then you've got a good way of scaring people - and by turning it off sometimes, then they can beat the fear and attack.Yahtzee said:
It doesn't need to be instakill either...something like a taser effect that freezes the controls and then throws them back works equally well as a "KEEP OUT" zone.
Rule 42 of DM'ing: Never kill the players, let them beg for death.
That insta-kill idea seems rather bad; it would end up being flow-breakingly annoying as hell to have been exploring the vastness of space suddenly to die and have to go back to the starting position. Other than that the game sounds like it's progressing in the right direction.
Perhaps you should make it so that the boss guy can actually chase at you max speed, or he could go even faster, thus making running both hard and almost definite defeat...
I have to say that I was actually suprised at who the killer was, didn't expect it to be them, because they hint at it being someone else. Though they never do explain that...in fact, there seem to be a good amount of things not explained in the overall scheme of things in the game, like they were part of the Dark Void team epidemic where Chuckles the giant frog's crash on their studio dislodged some of the building and it took out a few of the Heavy Rain team, meaning that there were some plot points not explained
I wonder though, between the Mana Bar and ZP, how much time do you have to make your games now? And who'dve thought that all this would have happened and turned you into the gaming star you've become all thanks to youtube?
I wonder though, between the Mana Bar and ZP, how much time do you have to make your games now? And who'dve thought that all this would have happened and turned you into the gaming star you've become all thanks to youtube?
Okay, he just said it was "not non-linear," like, a million times. Happy now, A1? [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/6.181376.5383260] If not, I wish I could afford to fund a trip so you could visit the Mana Bar and ask him to write "linear" on a piece of paper. Then draw a line under it to clarify he understands the concept of linearity.
If not, I wish I could afford to fund a trip so you could visit the Mana Bar and ask him to write "linear" on a piece of paper. Then draw a line under it to clarify he understands the concept of linearity.A-freaking-men. I must have created over a dozen little projects over the last couple years that I abandoned for this reason. Right now, I'm thinking maybe it's best to go completely freeform, which refutes something I believed earlier: that it's best to have the entire game designed in advance.Yahtzee said:
He probably wrote this ahead of time, so we'll most likely see something about it next week.Hubilub said:
As far as FSG:TG goes, letting people interact with their pursuers is generally better than just having to stay hidden. If you could plant/shoot small charges (they wouldn't be able to destroy the enemies) as a distraction, then you have a better scenario. The charges would have to hit an asteroid to work and would provide you with an opportunity to move to another spot. you could also make the players stay in the asteroid field by putting other enemy ships around it so the player can't just run away.
I get what your saying about the DVD extras comment. My experience with the game was still fantastic (best I've had in a year....which is to say, in the past 365 days, not in 2010), but I can definitely see where your coming from there.
As to your game, perhaps the reason to play hide and seek with the freighter can be simple necessity. Say, for instance, the freighter does something that damages your ship. Your scans indicate that the derelict has a macguffin that can stabilize the damage long enough to get to a proper base, but if left unchecked the problem will destroy the ship. Now you have a reason to stick around this piece of debris that Mr. star cruiser clearly objects to you being near.
As to your game, perhaps the reason to play hide and seek with the freighter can be simple necessity. Say, for instance, the freighter does something that damages your ship. Your scans indicate that the derelict has a macguffin that can stabilize the damage long enough to get to a proper base, but if left unchecked the problem will destroy the ship. Now you have a reason to stick around this piece of debris that Mr. star cruiser clearly objects to you being near.
I think star wars sums it up best: why can't you get away? tractor beams/teleporters/ and faster, tinier minions, minions, minions
Fuel. That's a limitation on flying off into the void. Not so much cruising, if you follow physics, but maneuvering.
There was a game for the Mac that was a space shooter, and in it you could fly forever away from gravity wells, but when you were too far away, the ship wouldn't be able to use it's "ramscoops" very well, and your fuel wouldn't replenish as fast.
It worked well with bad guys, because they always had better scoops, or larger fuel tanks, or something, so they could easily chase you down if you fled too far without hypering out of the system. Initially you could probably outrun them, but then you'd run out of fuel, and by the time your tanks were topped up again, they had caught up to you again. That was, if they were interested in chasing you.
There was a game for the Mac that was a space shooter, and in it you could fly forever away from gravity wells, but when you were too far away, the ship wouldn't be able to use it's "ramscoops" very well, and your fuel wouldn't replenish as fast.
It worked well with bad guys, because they always had better scoops, or larger fuel tanks, or something, so they could easily chase you down if you fled too far without hypering out of the system. Initially you could probably outrun them, but then you'd run out of fuel, and by the time your tanks were topped up again, they had caught up to you again. That was, if they were interested in chasing you.
it feels like these XP articles are getting rather lazy lately. Half is dedicated to Yahtzee's own personal project, which feels like something he should put in his blog or twitter rather than here.
anyway there is also a PC version of Shattered memories, why are you clinging to the wii version considering your thoughts of that console?
anyway there is also a PC version of Shattered memories, why are you clinging to the wii version considering your thoughts of that console?
For FSG:TG you could set up the scenario as not wanting to be "identified" by said big bad ship. If they shot at you (and they likely would, seeing as they are characterized as technological fanatics) you could evade, and likely even counterattack with varying degrees of effectiveness. But you're on a salvage mission and your goal is likely profit. If this ship managed to make it back to the intergalactic trade commission (or whatever) with your ship information, then most of the goods you recovered could be tagged as contraband and ruin any prospective trade opportunities if not mark you outright as a criminal. Normally these fanatics would just blast you out of space for touching their tech, but since your ship is likely capable of outrunning theirs I'm sure they would find other ways to screw you out of your payday, and what better way than to complain to some government bureaucrats?
You could make it so that being out of cover in the ship's line of sight would fill an "identification gauge". The longer you were the in open, the more info the big bad could glean from your ship. The enemy would change is trajectory too, moving closer to you to get a better look, so you would have to maneuver in a manner that would keep distance between you while keeping yourself hidden. Do this long enough and the ship will likely get frustrated and leave and you can make your escape.
You could make it so that being out of cover in the ship's line of sight would fill an "identification gauge". The longer you were the in open, the more info the big bad could glean from your ship. The enemy would change is trajectory too, moving closer to you to get a better look, so you would have to maneuver in a manner that would keep distance between you while keeping yourself hidden. Do this long enough and the ship will likely get frustrated and leave and you can make your escape.
Not suggeesting you should make a game as complex as those in the silent hunter series, but maybe you should look to submarine warfare for some ideas and why you can and cant do certain things. I allways thought a submarine style game in space would be class, poppin out from an astroid belt to photon torpedo a fleet.
I always enjoy the updates to the space game.
I think there was also something about the interactive story telling that makes a great deal of sense. Not Sure why it is so hard for things to be both interactive and fun. I suspect the problem is with me and not the game, for even in good games, I rarely AM the character, but rather play the game as I would play the game were I in the game. (That likely doesn't make much sense sorry!)
I think there was also something about the interactive story telling that makes a great deal of sense. Not Sure why it is so hard for things to be both interactive and fun. I suspect the problem is with me and not the game, for even in good games, I rarely AM the character, but rather play the game as I would play the game were I in the game. (That likely doesn't make much sense sorry!)
Replay value (and also altering the context) is not the only reason a player might want his choices to affect the story. Life doesn't have any replay value (and you can't alter the context of your life like you describe for Fork), but lots of people still really hope that free will is a real thing.
Also, I don't get your argument (or rather assertion) that there's no such thing as non-linear storytelling. Especially since on the next page you call (part of) Bioshock's story "completely linear". So there *are* variations in how linear or not linear a story is, then? Obviously, it all depends on how you define "linear" in this context, but I'm not sure what definition you're working with.
For keeping the player in Space Game close to the big ship - why not give them a reason to stay close and play hide-and-seek? maybe reconnaissance, or the chance to pick up some interesting things, like small fish that sometimes follow a shark. But more sneaky.
Also, I don't get your argument (or rather assertion) that there's no such thing as non-linear storytelling. Especially since on the next page you call (part of) Bioshock's story "completely linear". So there *are* variations in how linear or not linear a story is, then? Obviously, it all depends on how you define "linear" in this context, but I'm not sure what definition you're working with.
For keeping the player in Space Game close to the big ship - why not give them a reason to stay close and play hide-and-seek? maybe reconnaissance, or the chance to pick up some interesting things, like small fish that sometimes follow a shark. But more sneaky.
