[GetDizzy]

I've written about 1/5th of the script for this already so, even though the actual game is in early stages, I feel comfortable sharing some tidbits with you guys.


Early days yet, please be gentle on my crappy artwork

Autumn 0: A Quest For Meaning is the story of a man nearing his thirties.
It's a story of growth, of change, of fear and peace, doubt and love, uncertainty and longing, depression and hope, anxiety and courage, apathy and spirit, ennui and discovery, psychiatry, medication, relocation, isolation, and belonging.
But most of all, it's a story of how hard the idea of trusting another person for the rest of your life can sometimes be, and yet how important it is to try.

[GetDizzy]

About 400 lines of script written so far.



Script parser is working

(the \r\ns are intentional, each "line" is more of a 4 line paragraph)

[Bramble]

Insidious, I really like the idea here. Obviously, I enjoy using MZX as a storytelling device. Will there be gameplay, or simply visuals with dialogue?

[GetDizzy]

I'm not really sure as of yet to be honest. I'm kind of going back and forth between adding some stylistically appropriate action sequences during some of the more fanciful segments of the game, or just leaving it a pure "walk around, touch things, watch dialogue" story affair.

[GetDizzy]

Right now I'm writing more of the script and trying to think of how I might do a direction arrow to show the player the direction to the next mandatory story event

[Bramble]

I'm trying to think of gameplay that would feel appropriate for such an internal type of story as you seem to be writing. You might think about how you could represent some the player's internal feelings through gameplay. For instance, if the player is trying to clear his mind of personal distractions in order to achieve something, you may be able to create a game sequence in which the player gets rid of these abstractions by way of a puzzle or action event ("eliminate 5 distractions in order to move on!"). If you do not pass the puzzle or action event, you must try again to do so. In short, you could create traditional game sequences that represent the character's internal mental journey and his steps to self-discovery blahblahblah. Actually, CJA is great at this kind of thing--just to name one of the few who make gameplay sequences out of abstract ideas.

[GetDizzy]

Hmm. Trying to think of puzzles that would work for the kinds of emotions the main character is struggling against.

Anxiety is potentially an easy one, that would seem to call for a frantic timed puzzle kind of thing.

Doubt is more difficult. A riddle perhaps?

[Wervyn]

Thinking about this a little, I'm pretty sure the way I would go for this sort of thing would be less "here is a riddle, this puzzle represents doubt!", or even "here is a puzzle!", and more look at gameplay designed to create a specific emotion or feeling. Here are some brief thoughts on the two you've mentioned above:

Anxiety to me, is conveyed by creating a situation in which the player is afraid of the consequences of his choices and is hesitant to make them. You have to be careful with gameplay balance in this kind of situation because it's very easy to cross the line from conveying anxiety to creating a frustrating game experience, if this is hastily done. As a simple example, having the player run through a minefield where a single wrong step starts them over. Definitely creates a lot of anxiety, but probably not a lot of fun to play. Instead, look at tuning the perceived weight of choices, versus the actual effect. The sort of thing I'm thinking of (and take this as a mechanic, not necessarily a copy paste of actual gameplay), would be a "maze" of choices where every choice you make closes off many other possibilities and SEEMS to make the situation worse every time. However, you can tune the experience so that regardless of path, there's usually a way out. The player seems to escape by the skin of their teeth every time, but in actuality it almost always comes down to the last (and clearest) choice they make. Adding a timed component to this could also heighten the anxiety, if the player doesn't feel they have enough time to make informed choices (while tuning things so that they finish at about the same time as time is running out, perhaps even dynamically).

Doubt put me in mind of a mechanic that causes players to question whether their choices were the right ones on reflection, or perhaps even if they actually made the choices they thought they did. The idea I immediately had was actually some sort of randomly shifting map with landmarks that you'd be able to stumble upon if you wandered long enough, but that change places in relation to each other as you move around. That is, if you walked in one direction and then tried to retrace your steps, you'd end up somewhere different, and random. With tuning, you could probably make this subtle enough that things USUALLY work geospatially the way you expect, but every now and then they don't, and you wonder if you've gotten lost somehow without realizing it.

I don't know if the idea here is to have specifically delineated sections for each emotional concept, but it seems to me that these are approaches you could apply generally and in concert across the game, or as elements that aren't really announced, just used at different times. I think you're aiming for subtle, disturbing yet meaningful experience over blatant allegory, though.

"Look at how Art I am!"

[Bramble]

What he said.

Oh, CJA might effectively comment here because of how he likes to take conceptual processes from his mind and transfigure them into physical networks on the MZX screen. He is able to build gameplay sequences I could never execute (unless CJA taught a course called "MZX485: MegaZeux Gameplay" at a university and I had enrolled).

Insidious, quick **cough** comment about creating gameplay sequences in the middle of a narrative--I think it's important that the player never ask the question, "Why am I traveling through THIS weird environment?" and that the connection between the script and any gameplay reels is in-your-face obvious. To give an example of a game that clearly connects purpose to gameplay, in Forrester, inmate gives emotional significance to his levels in at least two ways. First, he has characters say things like, "Good luck finding whatever it is you're looking for," giving you, the player, a clear idea of why you are traveling through the environment you are. Even the weird environment of Forrester works because the environment is meant to be confusing and distracting (you know this because characters explain how easy it is to forget what you are searching for in Wayward.) Second, he has text inserted next to passageways, obstacles, at the door of a dragon lair, next to objects, etc. that tip you off to how you are supposed to be thinking about what you are seeing. Imagine NOT seeing the word "dragon" near the apparent fire-spewing ansii symbol in Forrester. You would not know what it was unless you had played Tim Sweeney's games in ZZT even though most of us have. So, because Forrester has influenced my game-making, I make sure that the player or another character says something in clear text that in-your-face obviously lets you, the player, know how you are supposed to be thinking about what you're seeing. To apply this concept to your own game, when there is a sequence of gameplay, make a character say something that makes it obvious you are supposed to be thinking of this puzzle as anxiety-inducing or another as doubt-instilling. Preceding the emotionally-driven gaemplay we're discussing, insert lines like "But it's hard to move on because every decision destroys so many possibilities" or "I would do something about it, but I have no idea that it's the right thing to do." Elipses ("...") following these comments can help. Following these types of lines, cue gameplay! Doing this is not on-the-nose--I think it's just better writing that unifies a script to player-initiated movement. Please weigh in here if I'm missing something, Wervyn or anyone.

I also want to be Art as well, too!

This post has been edited by Bramble: 08 June 2014 - 08:49 AM

[Graham]

You're both Art as fu#k! Wow, I mean these game design elements you're discussing could fit right in to any indie game design podcast or forum I've seen. Makes what I'm doing with my game so shallow by comparison. (Though I think there's room in this scene for all types of games).

This post has been edited by Graham: 09 June 2014 - 12:55 AM

[Bramble]

Because of your approach (or at least from what I have noticed), I think I might write my script for a game before I get into creating the game. Cause usually, I just stumble into making the game and writing simultaneously. Now, I might write out some shit before I get into it.