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Pillar Prison

First and foremost:
As a few of you may know, I have a particularly bad record when it comes to creating viable games. I get overexcited, and expand the project far too much, meaning it never actually gets executed (Or rather, it does get executed, but in a more decapitating sense of the word). However, I think I have come up with a game idea that doesn't need to be complicated, just unique (or rare at the very least). So here goes.

Intro:
Your name is Bandit, a cruel name that has cast a shadow over what could have been a normal life. Peaceful and law abiding, you spent your years running a shoppe in Redbrick, selling magickal trinkets and other equally sparkling things. However, there is always more-than-healthy competition in Redbrick, and some of them are not above underhanded tactics.
It was a sunny afternoon, although the chill from the wind crept through the ill-fitting door to your shoppe, making a soft climatic antipode. You were checking the stock after a busy day; the children of the nearby school would often run off with little items such as a "Flem's ring" or a vial cap or something. Without warning, three of the town guards, accompanied by captain Forcelock, marched into your humble piece of land and demanded to see the back rooms. Although baffled and concerned, you did not refuse, of course, and led them to their destination. You happily pushed the door open, and froze at what you saw. Your table was bloodied by the fresh corpse of Tenbread Potleaf, the local doctor. The corner of the room held a high stack of glimmering gold, lighting the room in yellow, that served only to enhance the shimmer of the blood on the walls and floor.

Murder and theft combined is a serious offence, one that is judged and punished by the whim of the town Captain. Forcelock sent you, without trial, to Pillar Prison; the mightiest jail in all of the lands, to spend 20 years of life behind iron, before a brutal death.
It had all happened so fast, but it was very clear that someone had framed you. Out of jealousy or spite, it is uncertain, but the outcome is concrete.

Story & Gameplay:
The idea of the game is a splintered one, there are multiple paths to deal with the prison, and it is up to the player to decide.
Law abiding and accepting: You can, if you so chose, accept your fate and spend your time getting to know your new home before deaths gate.
Law abiding and cunning: We all know of prison rats, aside from those of physical form are those with rat values. You can work your way through your fellow inmates, ratting them out to gain favour with the prison guards and captain to buy your freedom that way. This way will be the quickest, although most difficult escape plan. It will be a "detective" role that is easily ended with a quick shiv.
Brute force and leadership: Theres nothing wrong with a rally of the inmates to force your way out of the iron gates. This will take a lot of "questing" from fellow inmates to gain their favour. When the time comes for the escape, you can be in their midst to fight for freedom.
Brute force and cunning: As above, this will require a lot of favours to be done, more so infact, if you wish to be the puppeteer, safe out of danger...
Cowardice and fear: The simplest escape plan, a spur of the moment, although the least likely to succeed. Just make a run for it when the guards aren't looking.
Cowardice and cunning: Using wits and a longing for the free air, you can co-ordinate a solo escape utilising air vents, spoons, decoys and other cliché escape features.

These aims will be made easier to accomplish by establishing yourself as one of the following:

Rat: Eager to hide in the shadows, manipulate and betray to get what you want
Rat's are in alignment with the authorities. Get in the way of an inmate, and you may find yourself on the business end of a blade or bludgeon. Similarly, if you begin to incite a riot, and chose the path of the rat in the later stages, you will have to face the inmates with the final charge comes (or not, if you're particularly cowardly).
-- Rats spend their time completing investigations of the guard.
-- Rats are the "detectives" of the prison, meaning you'll need brains more than brawn (if you're doing it right, that is)
-- Rats are rewarded with all kinds of expensive stuff to place in their cell. (Cool, yes. But too much will rouse more than suspicion of the inmates)

Gang member: All too quick to join the fights and cause havoc in the jail hall. Keep it up and you'll be the leader in no time
Gangs seem like dangerous allies to make, for there are many gangs in Pillar Prison, and choosing a weaker one may be a short-lived act of nobility. However, choose a larger one and it may end up being difficult to rise in the ranks. You have the backing of your members, however, making this safer than being a rat.
-- Gang members spend their time fighting other gang members.
-- Gang members are eager fighters, and lose out on some of the more intellectual pursuits
-- Gang members gain weaponry and armour as the game progresses.

Prisoner: You accept that you are held in this cage, and will do all you can to survive... or escape
A very neutral standpoint, one that is gifted with medium rewards of both sides
-- Prisoners can chose to help out the authority or the gangs, but never get involved with either one to a deep degree.
-- Prisoners are able fighters and "good-enough" in the brain department
-- Prisoners can gain weapons and furniture.
-- Prisoner is the only path that allows you to co-ordinate a daring escape, or join the resistance.

Innocent: You stay true to your outside life, and refuse to be corrupted by the darkness of the prison. An arguably foolish choice, but one that brings its own benefits nonetheless
The default "class" of inmate. very restrictive, although it follows a more storyline path of the game, as opposed to fighting and thinking.
-- Innocents can only help prisoners, never gang members or the guard.
-- Innocents will never fight, but may be fought against... [If an innocent decides to kill an inmate (or worse, a guard) the path to innocence is taken away completely; you'll have to find another way out.]
-- Innocents have no need for weapons or furniture

To change class is not as simple as going into a menu, there are missions you must complete, or people you have to kill, to be accepted into any of the paths (To be an innocent all you must do is refuse to help the guards and gang members, and follow out the prison story.).

Map:
Here is the basic layout of the prison, and some explanations. (Sorry, didn't realise I made it this big while I was creating it. I'll scale it down in a sec :3)
PrisonLayout.png

1) Cells + Mess hall
Here you will find the cells of the inmates, and will also be the place where you can buy and sell "barter" items (drugs etc) from fellow inmates (Under the table, at food time of course.) Barter items are important to utilise prison facilities, eg the hospital

2) Prison Hospital
You'll spend a lot of time here. You end up here if you get shived and survive, or if you lose a fight. You can also come here to recover wounds, but you have to sweeten the deal with some drugs, or if you are lucky enough to be in on the same day as Dr. Neeq, you can give him some stamps in exchange for augmentations to your physical or mental form

3) Rec Centre
Here you can talk to some inmates, play a few minigames, and get some trivia on the game itself.

4) Courts
Gangs hold all of their major fights on the courts. This if for several reasons...
For a start, the courts are surrounded by a steel fence that they lock up before a fight. No sense in letting them escape.
There is a cold hard surface, good for grip and pummeling their face into the concrete.
and finally, it is the furthest area away from the guard buildings.

5) Exercise area
Every day, you will be called here alongside other inmates to perform your exercises as demanded by the guards. You will either have to race around a track, dig a hole or lift weights. If you win the race, or complete your weight quota/hole quota before anyone else, you will recieve a statistic bonus to your stats (Details coming soon). Although not required, it is a good way to get your stats up.

6) Guard Housing
You will rarely enter this place, if at all. It holds the guards weaponry and the guards themselves. The basement holds the death machine, the final destination of all the inmates here. If you find yourself in here, you've either done something right, or very, very badly.

7) Captain Tower
Captain Gangreen likes to sit in the corner of the prison, high above all others, gazing down at his correctional enterprise. If you yearn for freedom or goodies for your cell, this is the place to be.

8) Gate
The one thing that all inmates come to hate. A large wooden gate, bolstered with rows and rows of iron is all that stands in your way to the outside world...



Fights:
The fights in which you actually have a chance to fight back against will most likely use a tactical battle system. Although, there are times when you will be attacked as an event, meaning you have no chance to defend yourself. The events will most likely result in death (ie, game over) but some may only land you in the prison medical centre.

Characters:
[To be added to once I have more to write]

To be added:

--Captain Forcelock.

--Bandit

--Captain Gangreen (Of the pillar guard)

-GANG LEADERS (Names pending)
-- Leader of the triads (The largest and deadliest)
-- Leader of the Yygdaic slaves (Relatively diplomatic, relatively brutal)
-- Leader of the Candle Waxers (Pretty stupid bunch)
-- Leader of the resistance (Anti-gang + anti-guard = anti-life. Hardest to pursue, they hide as ordinary prisoners)

Notes of importance:
COMING UP IS SOME MAJOR SPOILERS TO THE DETAILS OF THE GAME (In bullet point format, essentially destroying any potential twists). PLEASE DO NOT OPEN IF YOU WISH TO PLAY THE GAME AS INTENDED!!
Okay, last chance to leave before you get all spoilered up. You can't un-remember, sadly.

Sure?

okay.

-Upon entering the prison, you are greeted by all of the notable characters (gang members, captains and "named prisoners".) One of the named prisoners is the leader of the resistance, although it is not openly said, he'll be the one prisoner that has nothing bad to say about the gangs.

-You enter as an innocent, and as such, you can avoid all optional side quests, and follow a set storyline that leads you out of the prison. This will prevent you from enjoying the little prison warfares and twists, but will allow you to follow a story.

-the "cowardice and fear" option is destined to fail, but the choice is given in the progression of the game multiple times. Taking the chance will make many of the other escape routes harder in the future.

RAT PATH:
HOW TO "JOIN" IT: There are multiple ways to join it, and varied times in the game:
1) In your first day in Pillar, a guard will ask you to meet him in the Rec Centre after midday. If you help him with his request, you will begin the path of the Rat.
2) Captain Gangreen will call you to his office after a few weeks of prison life. Completing his task will begin the path of the Rat.
3) IF YOU ARE A GANG MEMBER: A "Mysterious Note" will appear on your bed (randomly timed) if you choose to complete the requirements on the note, you will switch to the Rat class.
4) IF YOU ARE A PRISONER: & Only after you discover the resistance leader's secret. You can turn the resistance in to become a Rat (and get a huge reward)

- The early missions of the rat will involve finding items in cells that incriminate inmates
- The harder missions will involve weeding information out of inmates
- The penultimate missions require you to incite gang warfare (Captain Gangreen wishes to be rid of the gangs, and cannot execute them before the date set). Upon completion, only the triads will survive
-The very last mission (the one that earns your freedom) is an outright murder. You are ordered to shiv the leader of the triads, and all that stand in the way.
(The twist to this plot is that Captain Gangreen was once the leader of the triads. He was promoted out of the prison cell and into the guard itself when he destroyed an up-and-coming gang that could have eliminated the triads. See the gang leader path to know why this was a good thing.
The order to kill the Triad leader is never explained in the given missions, but if you choose to do some of your own detective work, there is a letter from Captain Forcelock in the desk of Captain Gangreen, explaining that the new leader of the Triad will be promoted to Captain, rendering him out of a job.
There are also little kisses at the bottom, and what seems to be a kiss mark made out of lipstick.)


GANG LEADER PATH:
HOW TO "JOIN" IT: There are multiple ways to join it, and varied times in the game:
1) Approach any gang member, and go to the relative leader to join the gang of your choice
2) Agree to join a gang if a gang member decides to visit your cell.
3) IF YOU ARE A RAT: kill a guard, or a rival gang member
4) IF YOU ARE A PRISONER: & are in the resistance. Tell a gang leader that you know how to find the resistance. (Also gives the opportunity to eliminate them.)


- The early missions are simple "Go and kill such and such of the such and such gang"
- The harder missions are more complicated and organised team brawls
- The penultimate missions involve recruiting enemies, or killing them. It also involves the killing of the gang leader, to take his place.
- The final mission requires you to either eliminate the resistance (earning you the serendipity of favour and freedom of the guards.) or charge the guards and force your way to freedom.
The twist to this plot is that the triads are run by the guards themselves, always have been, acting as an iron fist, serving two purposes: one, to make the guard look good, and so, encourage rats, and two, to cull the gang population to reasonable levels. This information is not obvious, but if you are in the triads, you will get mysterious messages, claiming to be from the triads. The missions will usually contain underhanded demands, uncommon in the triads.

PRISONER PATH:
HOW TO "JOIN" IT:There is only one way to join, that is never taken away from you:
1) Tell your gang leader/Captain Gangreen that you refuse to continue working for them. Congratulations, you're freelance. (If you have not committed any murders, you will also be classed as an Innocent, meaning you can continue to play the Innocent storyline if you wish.

- All of these missions are simple killings or reporting information for rewards. Prisoners are members of the resistance, and as such are seen neutrally by most inmates.
(The twist to this plot is that the leader of the resistance is the one that hired your opposition to frame you. After a certain amount of time or missions completed, he will try to eliminate you by sending you off to kill an influential gang member. If you succeed, the gang hunts you down and kills you slowly. If you fail, you are hunted by the gang, but are given the opportunity to work your way out of it by the guard. A time limit is applied, and you must find incriminating evidence for the entire gang. Each gang member has his own crime commited, and you must find it.)

IF YOU WISH TO COMMENT ON ANY OF THE SPOILERS, I'D APPRECIATE IT IF YOU COULD PUT IT INTO A SPOILER, TOO. THANKS! :biggrin:

So there we have it. Aside from the gang descriptions and character biographies, is there much to comment on?

Thanks for reading.
 
Looks nice, but how are you going to make all that hapen?

You said that innocents can't help guards or gang-members. Does that mean that, once you helped a guard or a gang-member, you are no longer an innocent? How do you change "classes"?
 
beterbomen":mjdfp6n4 said:
Looks nice, but how are you going to make all that hapen?

You said that innocents can't help guards or gang-members. Does that mean that, once you helped a guard or a gang-member, you are no longer an innocent? How do you change "classes"?

Ah! Thanks for asking, I'll make it clearer in the main post.

The class system isn't really as obvious as I've explained it, you'll be pulled into being either a Rat, Gang member or prisoner (or none in the case of innocent) by the choices you are given. It will be more of a hidden, background thing. In other words, you'll never be outright told what class you are, but the way npc's treat you will make it fairly obvious (I hope)

I'll give a better explaination in the main post, and the details in the spoiler :grin:
 
I'm still confused. So this means you change classes no mather what? If that's the case, what about that storyline you talked about?
 
beterbomen":290j3x7c said:
I'm still confused. So this means you change classes no mather what? If that's the case, what about that storyline you talked about?

The "innocent" path will allow you to play the set storyline (One that is more like an interactive story, finding information to prove your innocence). You enter the prison as an Innocent, and will only change if you decide to help out the guards or the gang members, or decide to find the resistance leader (To become a "Prisoner").

You become a Rat by helping the guard (So long as you are not a Prisoner, if you are, you remain a Prisoner) Rat's can escape by earning the favour of Captain Gangreen, or by blackmailing him

You become a Gang member by helping a gang out by killing a guard or rival gang member (Again, only if you are not a prisoner). Gang members can escape by causing a riot and barging their way out.

If you ARE a prisoner (Ie part of the resistance) then you must destroy the resistance in order to join a gang or the guards. Prisoners can escape by organising a stealthy escape (there will be multiple ways to escape, and only about half will suceed).

I hope that wasn't more confusing... :smile:
 
beterbomen":apoyfv4j said:
Just one more quiestion: If you're no longer an innocent, can you still do things to prove your innocence?

When I first came up with the idea, I decided that, no, once you decide to abandon proving your innocence, you abandon it forever... But now that you ask me, I have to say yes, you can. However, if you kill anyone in the prison, you forfeit your innocence permanently.
 
It does sound unique. I also have questions:
- Will the entire game be inside the jail (the game end when you escape)?
- If so, how would you get clues to prove innocence, since whoever framed you is not there?
- And how would you get to revenge? :devil:
- If the game decides you're a 'prisoner', you can't decide to be gang member, etc?
 
And i have another quiestion(sorry, i said that last one would be the.. eh... last one, but i just came up with this one): Does being a prisoner always mean you're a member of the resistance, or can you also become a "normal" prisoner?
 
Thank you both! :D

silver wind":tp7ltzaj said:
- Will the entire game be inside the jail (the game end when you escape)?
At the moment, yes. However, I'm thinking about adding a conclusion that depends on how you escaped and if you did certain things in the prison (eg, if you killed a certain amount of people you'll be haunted by it for the rest of you life, or if you killed lots of people, you'll end up being a serial killer, or something.)

silver wind":tp7ltzaj said:
- If so, how would you get clues to prove innocence, since whoever framed you is not there?
There are inmates that know some of the people involved, and some actually work with them. (Theres a better explanation in the spoiler, I'm not sure I can say much else without giving too much away)

silver wind":tp7ltzaj said:
- And how would you get to revenge? :devil:
Haha! I was hoping someone would ask that. As dark as it may seem, there are always weapons in Pillar Prison, and there are more than a few people responsible for your arrest within reach :tongue:. I might also add some vengence to the "conclusion" idea I mentioned.

silver wind":tp7ltzaj said:
- If the game decides you're a 'prisoner', you can't decide to be gang member, etc?
I'm glad you didn't read the spoiler :grin:. I didn't make it clear in the main explanation, but you can change between classes (sometimes).
EDIT: You can freely change between Prisoner, Rat and Gang member, but to change to Rat/Gang member, you have to complete a task and suffer a penalty in reputation with the party you have left. To change back to a prisoner, you merely have to tell the Gang leader/Captain Gangreen that you refuse to be their loyal helper any longer.

beterbomen":tp7ltzaj said:
And i have another quiestion(sorry, i said that last one would be the.. eh... last one, but i just came up with this one): Does being a prisoner always mean you're a member of the resistance, or can you also become a "normal" prisoner?
Don't be sorry, theres no limit to how many questions you can ask, you've helped alot, so please, ask away :D.

I hadn't thought about this until now, but you raise an interesting point.
I think I'll make being part of the resistance something extra, but you can still do missions for the gangs/guards while being a "freelance" prisoner, as it were.

The resistance will from now on be a "side-path" that is only accessible while being a prisoner, and can be completed either by helping them, or destroying them.
Slightly confusing, but thanks for that, it's a definite improvement.


Hope that cleared some stuff up :) I'll change some stuff around to accommodate the changes and updates.
 

R.J.

Member

I think it's a very interesting concept but

Cowardice and fear: The simplest escape, although the least likely to succeed. Make a run for it when the guards aren't looking.

If it's the least likely to succeed, shouldn't it be the most difficult escape?
 
R.J.":rg7oyzb4 said:
I think it's a very interesting concept but

Cowardice and fear: The simplest escape, although the least likely to succeed. Make a run for it when the guards aren't looking.

If it's the least likely to succeed, shouldn't it be the most difficult escape?

Oh yeah... I meant to put "simplest escape plan". Does that look better?

EDIT:Sorry, misunderstood you. When I refer to difficulty, I mean difficulty for the player, as opposed to the character.

Thanks :)
 
Something occured to me. If you're a "Rat", and helping out the guards, you'd become prety important to Gangreen. So why would he let you go?
 

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