[project1dev] Re: Scenario 1
- From: Chris Riccobono <crysalim@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: project1dev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:53:50 -0700
Yeah, it would be best to keep him as a mystery. This has the bonus
of letting him change as the story needs him to, in case we tie it in
with other things later on, like you said.
It wouldn't be very good to actually call him a shinigami, because
it's too attached to preconceived notions in anime (kind of like how
calling someone a guru conveys an older, wiser image, or an elder just
makes you think of an old man)
There's a series called Soul Eater that has a hilarious version of the
reaper, it actually ties in to what Kent suggested with the
ringmaster. He generally oversees and guides others, but when it
comes down to it, he's the strongest single entity in existence. But
because he is so strong, he is very reluctant to influence mortal
affairs. Instead, he's just very light hearted and jokes with the few
people he lets interact with him.
Breaking the 5th (or 4th) wall is really fun to have in a story too.
For example, a girl character in an rpg constantly alludes to herself
as a Creator, but never lets anyone know what this is, or why she is
one - she simply changes the subject when someone asks. It lets the
player use their imagination to wonder why she actually has the powers
she does, and why she is so secretive about them.
On Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 4:36 AM, eric drewes <figarus@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> i like the idea chris, good stuff.
> i think probably what we will do is this...
> i like the idea of the game or characters in the game being self-aware (not
> sentient... haha... well...) but having a character that "breaks the 5th
> wall" and is aware that he is a character and is playing a part in the game.
> I think that the idea of reincarnation, the shinigami, the oldman,
> reaper,ringmaster, etc. can all be rolled up into one pretty awesome
> original character and also i like the parrellel that it really is a
> reincarnation of sorts because the player is being reincarnated into the
> game world. however, i feel that hints towards him being a reaper or
> shinigami should be subtle. I envisioned him originally as a merlin-esque
> guy who sort of existed outside of our definition of space/time and had
> powers and an agenda of his own. He would pop in an out of the the game and
> was pretty much secretive through most of it, a mysterious stranger with
> strange powers.
>
> rather than SAYING exactly what he is, we can drop hints and clues
> throughout and maybe he plays a big role as either an ally or the final boss
> at the end.
> like wwe can have scenes where he appears and maybe animals react in a
> negative wway (or positive way) or like, certain characters are immediately
> distrustful or fearful of him or maybe children are drawn to him piedpiper
> style to show that he is strange. i definitely think he can end up being an
> awesome character with a really neat story.
> On Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 1:20 AM, Chris Riccobono <crysalim@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> What about using a shinigami? It's a japanese interpretation of the
>> reaper, but he's more or less a god that looks over the souls of the
>> living and the dead, which would tie in perfectly with Alan's
>> reincarnation idea (which is so badass)
>>
>> I like how the choices determine what path you will start on, reminds
>> me of one of my favorite games, Kingdom Hearts.
>>
>> On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 1:04 PM, Kent Petersen <kentkmp@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> > I have not read your stories I'll check them out.
>> >
>> > On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 10:55 AM, Alan Wolfe <alan.wolfe@xxxxxxxxx>
>> > wrote:
>> >>
>> >> oh interesting, like the person leading you through was a reflection of
>> >> the person you were creating?
>> >>
>> >> On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 8:12 AM, Kent Petersen <kentkmp@xxxxxxxxx>
>> >> wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>> That sounds like a pretty cool character creation process. Will the
>> >>> tone
>> >>> of the game be more comical? If so I would suggest the crazy
>> >>> ringmaster. If
>> >>> the tone will be slightly more serious i would go with the old man.
>> >>>
>> >>> Crazy idea I just had was it would be cool if there could be either
>> >>> reaper in the void. Maybe it would be random or there could be a first
>> >>> scenario before you get to the reaper where if your choice is more
>> >>> good or
>> >>> bad it would reflect in the outcome of who guides you through the
>> >>> doors.
>> >>>
>> >>> On Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 7:18 PM, Alan Wolfe <alan.wolfe@xxxxxxxxx>
>> >>> wrote:
>> >>>>
>> >>>> that is neat too :P
>> >>>>
>> >>>> hey we could have the real cyrocade if you wanted to... when you are
>> >>>> done he gets in his castle and blasts off... maybe the guys carry him
>> >>>> around
>> >>>> on the throne while you are talking to him (and maybe they drop him
>> >>>> once or
>> >>>> something hehe).
>> >>>>
>> >>>> We could query the global var system to see some random choices the
>> >>>> player made in the missions (like a decision that doesnt matter) and
>> >>>> use
>> >>>> that between scenarios to figure out like, do they drop him while
>> >>>> he's
>> >>>> talking to you, or not
>> >>>>
>> >>>> haha ::shrug::
>> >>>>
>> >>>> On Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 7:13 PM, <figarus@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> Hey alan, what do you think of this...
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> Ok so how about the theme for the place you go through doors is sort
>> >>>>> of
>> >>>>> carnival themed with the oldman being a kinda crazed (cyrocadish...)
>> >>>>> Ringmaster who is like "choose your fate" with a bit of showmanship
>> >>>>> as you
>> >>>>> go through the scenarios. I like the idea that he's not really trust
>> >>>>> worthy
>> >>>>> but seems helpful but a little evil
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> ________________________________
>> >>>>> From: Alan Wolfe
>> >>>>> Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:09:13 -0700
>> >>>>> To: <project1dev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> >>>>> Subject: [project1dev] Re: Scenario 1
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> lol thatd be rad...
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> "do you want to change your choice?"
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> if you choose yes you get some bonus to luck or anything (under the
>> >>>>> assumption that you understand odds enough to really have the bonus
>> >>>>> in real
>> >>>>> life lol)
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> On Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 7:07 PM, <figarus@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> I like all your ideas here... Definitely fleshing out the system
>> >>>>>> nicely :)
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> Hey alan, hahaha we could have it like the 3 door goat/prize thing
>> >>>>>> lol
>> >>>>>> bayes theorem or whatever.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> Visually I think this would be really neat too
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> ________________________________
>> >>>>>> From: Alan Wolfe
>> >>>>>> Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:01:05 -0700
>> >>>>>> To: <project1dev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> >>>>>> Subject: [project1dev] Re: Scenario 1
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> oh and i was trying to tie the stuff you said previously into what
>> >>>>>> i
>> >>>>>> was picturing in my head, like the 3 total scenarios out of x
>> >>>>>> scenarios
>> >>>>>> total.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> And the scenarios are non random but different each time (assuming
>> >>>>>> you
>> >>>>>> choose different paths each time), but if thats too obvious, we
>> >>>>>> could also
>> >>>>>> do stuff like whenever you are presented with a choice of 3
>> >>>>>> scenarios to do,
>> >>>>>> it presents you 3 from the pool of however many you haven't chosen
>> >>>>>> yet, and
>> >>>>>> we can have some kind of a scoring system based on your choices in
>> >>>>>> previous
>> >>>>>> scenarios that would determine which scenarios were available (but
>> >>>>>> it didnt
>> >>>>>> give any indication of which those were to the player).
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> That would give more efeling of randomness if that's what you like,
>> >>>>>> while still it being a deterministic process, so if someone
>> >>>>>> followed the
>> >>>>>> exact right steps they could make the perfect <insert class here>.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> shrug, what ya think?
>> >>>>>> On Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 6:56 PM, Alan Wolfe <alan.wolfe@xxxxxxxxx>
>> >>>>>> wrote:
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> Man that is so bad ass, wow.
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> Hey I had an idea for tying the scenarios together tell me what
>> >>>>>>> you
>> >>>>>>> think (and feel free to shoot it down haha)
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> Ok so basically you are floating in the void and the reaper is
>> >>>>>>> there
>> >>>>>>> and is judging you or testing you.
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> You start out and theres 3 paths to walk lets say (cool looking
>> >>>>>>> void
>> >>>>>>> background... and the reaper is floating there hovering). each
>> >>>>>>> path leads
>> >>>>>>> to a diff scenario.
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> Maybe you have to choose 3 times from 3 diff paths (for a total of
>> >>>>>>> 9
>> >>>>>>> scenarios total but you only do 3 of them?)
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> and before you make your choice the reaper kinda primes you with
>> >>>>>>> some
>> >>>>>>> information, or just has some interesting dialog, and afterwords
>> >>>>>>> maybe makes
>> >>>>>>> comments about your choices.
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> I'm picturing it like, you start a new gamee:
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> You appear in the void and see all this stuff swirling in the
>> >>>>>>> darkness in the background, a torch or blue fire or something
>> >>>>>>> flares up and
>> >>>>>>> the world / player fades into view and the reaper fades in (alpha
>> >>>>>>> blended
>> >>>>>>> in).
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> A text box comes up w/ a portrait of the reaper on the side and he
>> >>>>>>> says stuff to you, maybe have some stuff like hinting at
>> >>>>>>> reincarnation "Not
>> >>>>>>> everyone learns the lessons they must learn in a single life time,
>> >>>>>>> let's see
>> >>>>>>> how you fare this time around."
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> Stuff like that, and when you go from void to scenario or from
>> >>>>>>> scenario to void it fades down to black/silence and fades up to
>> >>>>>>> the new area
>> >>>>>>> / new area's music w/ the player in the middle of the screen in
>> >>>>>>> his weird
>> >>>>>>> role.
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> I dunno, your idea inspired this image in my head so thought i'd
>> >>>>>>> share :P
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> On Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 6:41 PM, <figarus@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> "The kings lament"
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> Player control: the king
>> >>>>>>>> situation: the king is in his study alone, there are props like a
>> >>>>>>>> globe, maps, books, chairs, fireplace. The king is basically
>> >>>>>>>> trying to make
>> >>>>>>>> a decision. Reading materials involving the decision lie all
>> >>>>>>>> over the room
>> >>>>>>>> and also the king can summon his advisor who will detail the
>> >>>>>>>> situation and
>> >>>>>>>> will also accept his answer.
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> Problem: his council has demanded that magic be banned in the
>> >>>>>>>> country - they say it is too dangerous and unpredictable.
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> Information: They are afraid of a local sorcerer, Corzin, who has
>> >>>>>>>> been building a tower near the capital city. There are documents
>> >>>>>>>> giving the
>> >>>>>>>> pros and cons of magic. Exploring the study will also reveal
>> >>>>>>>> hints that the
>> >>>>>>>> king has minor telekenetic powers and has been studying how to
>> >>>>>>>> hone his
>> >>>>>>>> ability. There are also reports of the benefits of magic as well
>> >>>>>>>> as spy
>> >>>>>>>> reports behind corzins actions.
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> Progression of events:
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> Part 1 the king reads and listens and then makes a decision,
>> >>>>>>>> sunmons
>> >>>>>>>> his advisor and gives him an answer (ban magic or not).
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> Part 2 the king retires to his bedroom, the next day he is
>> >>>>>>>> sitting
>> >>>>>>>> in his throne room when a group of advisors and military guys
>> >>>>>>>> rush in and
>> >>>>>>>> one of the following happens:
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> A) corzin has refused to obey the law and continues construction,
>> >>>>>>>> they want permission to arrest him - but offer no crime or reason
>> >>>>>>>> other that
>> >>>>>>>> what sounds like slander, superstition and prejudice
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> B) they demand that you reconsider the law, again offering you
>> >>>>>>>> superstition as evidence
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> Then the king lays down the law in regards to magic use in the
>> >>>>>>>> country, as well as whether or not to arrest corzin for breaking
>> >>>>>>>> the laws
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> EFFECTS:
>> >>>>>>>> If you outlaw magic, you have a low rep with mage faction, no
>> >>>>>>>> magic
>> >>>>>>>> used in the kings lands without arrest, maybe there are antimagic
>> >>>>>>>> perks/detractors.
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> If corzin ends up arrested there is an unfinished tower outside
>> >>>>>>>> of
>> >>>>>>>> town you can complete, corzin is a character you can recruit in
>> >>>>>>>> the dungeon
>> >>>>>>>> of the palace.
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> If magic is NOt banned... Corzin has finished the tower and
>> >>>>>>>> basically rules the kingdom, the castle has become a prison of
>> >>>>>>>> sorts where
>> >>>>>>>> the king sits and plans the resistance. The king is recruitable
>> >>>>>>>> as an
>> >>>>>>>> amateur mage. Mage faction rep is higher.
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> If magic is not banned but corzin is arrested, it is a hybrid
>> >>>>>>>> where
>> >>>>>>>> corzin is in jail but magic is allowed. The king is not
>> >>>>>>>> recruitable, though
>> >>>>>>>> and remains in power.
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> Obviously there are a ton of mini decisions and a lot of content
>> >>>>>>>> writing, but this is just a general outline of one of the
>> >>>>>>>> potential
>> >>>>>>>> scenarios
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>>
>
>
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