The Game

[beterbomen]

It's a game about a game.

This game is story-based, not gameplay based.
There is a game, an RPG, with one of those brainless kind of hero's. But you lose a fight, and... I better start over.

Imagine, you’re playing an RPG, you’re fighting a monster, and you lose. You try again, but you keep losing. You try to start a new game, but al you get is a strange sound. What do you do? You shut down the game and walk away.
But what if that wasn't the end of it?
In the Games deepest depts, the hero wakes up...

The Game is based on the idea that when you stop playing, the characters don't. Now imagine they found out the truth about theyre world. Now imagine they dissagree with it. And NOW imagine they start looking for a way out.

The game's plot starts to spin horribly out of controle when some of the characters start to break free, and organise themselves in an attempt to put a stop to the ultimate final boss: The Game itself.


Okay, now in a less dramatic way.

PLOT(for now):
The game begins inside the game. You have been playing for a while, and start by loading a safe-file. But, directly after that, you are atacked by an enemy, and you turn out to be on a to low level to beat it. But you can't train, and you can't start over. When you shut the game down(using the Shutdown feature in the "Main Menu"), you find the hero in another world, ript lose from the game's story, with a mind of her own(yes, it's a girl. She's called "Alene", and it's Aluxes). At that moment, she is the only one who's completely free from the game. After she's returned to her own world(i can't say "after YOU've returned", because you're not supposed there anymore), she returns to her hometown, still completely unaware. But when her mother falls to a misterious illness and dies, she finds out that there's something's wrong with the world, and now she has to try to find out what. Problem is, nobody seems to know WHAT is wrong, or who's responsible for it all. Is it the guys in controle? Or the religion leaders? Maybe the gods themselves? It ends up in a wild goose-chase-like thing, where the heros try to figure out what's wrong. And when they do find out, they're faced with a new problem: How do you stop something that controles the world?

Characters(the ones i've come up with anyway):

Alene/Kathlynn
The Hero. She was the "main main character", untill she lost to a boss that atacked her hometown. She ended up in Game Over, a world outside the game's controle, and things would never be the same. Because she's the game's hero, she doesn't have much background other than what was chosen for her, which, now that she's been released, doesn't matter anymore. Everything else is a mistery.

That's all for now, i want to see how people react to this, and than i'll give more information.
And it is absolutely NOT a parody game.

 

[NightSway]

Great idea!

There's certainly a great number of possibilities with this, and I would really like to see this develop.
I like the thought of seeing rather plain and generic RPG characters slowly start to question things in their own way, and evolve their own personalities.

 

[R.J.]

I don't really understand it and it would help a lot if it was explained a bit more clear. So basically a kid shuts down a RPG and the characters magically have a life of their own? Seems very flimsy to me.

 

[beterbomen]

So basically a kid shuts down a RPG and the characters magically have a life of their own?

No. I'll explain that more elaborate later.

 

[beterbomen]

Just added a "Plot part". Look at the top.

 

[ChasW]

I don't really understand it and it would help a lot if it was explained a bit more clear. So basically a kid shuts down a RPG and the characters magically have a life of their own? Seems very flimsy to me.

Think Tron, I believe.

 

[R.J.]

But isn't that more like the innards of the PC acting on their own to make things more convienent (or less convenient) for users. If I understand this correctly this is more about people in a real world being aware that they're in a videogame and getting a will of their own.

Oh well we'll see.

 

[ebhz.Ash.4rm]

Yeah plot seems very flimsy, I mean it's like toy story, but doesn't seem fun to play. It's like a parody game but it would just be wierd, I mean how are you supposed to defeat the game? Battle a cartridge? I think you'd do better making it a parody game so you actually play through to game but perhaps really don't care about the plot but just wanna complete it so you can set yourself free? Or maybe they fell out of the game and need to find all the people who fell out to save the real world? I don't know, but as is seems a bit weak.

 

[beterbomen]

I don't know, but as is seems a bit weak.

To my humble oppinion it's not. I have thought it trough many times before posting it here. The resson it looks weak is because i haven't had the time to think up a better way of explaining it.

And for your information: It's NOT a Parody game!

 

[ebhz.Ash.4rm]

I don't know, but as is seems a bit weak.

To my humble oppinion it's not. I have thought it trough many times before posting it here. The resson it looks weak is because i haven't had the time to think up a better way of explaining it.

And for your information: It's NOT a Parody game!

It is a parody game, just not a typical one. If you're poking fun at games then it's a parody.

Also I can't see how explaining your concept which I already get, would make it a better game.

 

[NightSway]

It is a parody game, just not a typical one. If you're poking fun at games then it's a parody.

Also I can't see how explaining your concept which I already get, would make it a better game.

I disagree, actually, theres nothing satirical with the initial premise of the game he has in mind. Although, because we've been given so little about it at the moment, I can see why it could be seen as a parody.

Anyway, does it really matter what label we want to give it? Parody or not, will it actually effect the potential quality of the game?

I think you should consider fleshing out what you have, beter. Surely it's better to prove that you have a good game plan, rather than to argue about it? :grin:

 

[Fireworksinc]

I don't understand how gameplay would work.. seeing as the premise of the game is that the player is not actually in the game but the characters are.
I guess you could allow the player to pan the world and see NPCs progressing, but other than that, how can you add gameplay without breaking the basis of the plot? Unless I've misunderstood the plotline.

 

[beterbomen]

I don't understand how gameplay would work.. seeing as the premise of the game is that the player is not actually in the game but the characters are.
I guess you could allow the player to pan the world and see NPCs progressing, but other than that, how can you add gameplay without breaking the basis of the plot? Unless I've misunderstood the plotline.

The hero is inside the game. Before, she was the main character. And now, she's the only one who can notice and IS noticing something is wrong with the world.

 

[Fireworksinc]

I don't understand how gameplay would work.. seeing as the premise of the game is that the player is not actually in the game but the characters are.
I guess you could allow the player to pan the world and see NPCs progressing, but other than that, how can you add gameplay without breaking the basis of the plot? Unless I've misunderstood the plotline.

The hero is inside the game. Before, she was the main character. And now, she's the only one who can notice and IS noticing something is wrong with the world.

So the player controls the hero? But I thought the hero had free will and realised she was in a game?
Is the hero supposed to assume the role of the hero? Because, imo, a plot were the hero is independant to the player could be interestingly done if you could somehow add gameplay (e.g. being a God, manipulating NPCs, etc).

 

[beterbomen]

I get how that could be confusing. If you look at the top, you'll see i wrote: "I'ts a game about a game". You have to look at it that way. The hero finds out she's in a (another) game, and that's what this game is about. The game they're in and this game are not the same.

(And no, the characters wouln't find out they're in THIS game.)
I hope this clears things up. I get it's pretty hard to understand.

 

[beterbomen]

i have a confession to make. I haven't finnished the plot yet. I only made up the beginning and the end, and what you could call the "backbone" of the story.

 

[QuantumMindGames]

I think what he is talking about is the game playing itself while you are away and the console is turned off.

The video game characters in the currently-shut-off game are slowly coming to the realization that they are in a video game, and the game world starts getting out of control?


Basically, you start out as you, a human in real life (of sorts), and you are playing a console, like a Nintendo system, you get frustrated because you cant beat a boss, so you turn it off and go do something else. Then it switches to the main character you were just playing, and it's as if the game was never turned off, and she controls her self in this virtual world. (by her controlling herself, obviously you will be controlling it, it's just a perspective change.)


The goal of this game is to win the game and free the characters in the game (not sure on this one)

I'm hoping that helps some, and also that I'm understanding what you are trying to say.



Think of it like that game idea (I've had this one, others probably have too) where you get sucked into the video game and have to find your way out, except you don't get sucked in, and the video game characters are just trying to get out because they know they are in a video game and don't like it there.

 

[beterbomen]

I think what he is talking about is the game playing itself while you are away and the console is turned off.

The video game characters in the currently-shut-off game are slowly coming to the realization that they are in a video game, and the game world starts getting out of control?


Basically, you start out as you, a human in real life (of sorts), and you are playing a console, like a Nintendo system, you get frustrated because you cant beat a boss, so you turn it off and go do something else. Then it switches to the main character you were just playing, and it's as if the game was never turned off, and she controls her self in this virtual world. (by her controlling herself, obviously you will be controlling it, it's just a perspective change.)


The goal of this game is to win the game and free the characters in the game (not sure on this one)

I'm hoping that helps some, and also that I'm understanding what you are trying to say.



Think of it like that game idea (I've had this one, others probably have too) where you get sucked into the video game and have to find your way out, except you don't get sucked in, and the video game characters are just trying to get out because they know they are in a video game and don't like it there.

You're right on the first part. Only, two-third of the game, no-one gets what's going on. The goal of the game is not to win, but to stop the game from controling their world. The idea is that there's a story written for the RPG they're in, and the game is there to make that story hapen. It's not evil, it just responds to what's hapening, and, if it has to, tries to solve a problem. The world of the game is a game world, but it's real for them, so they only need to stop the game from interfering with it.

I've updated the description by the way. There's a weak excuse for a character set now. Look at the top.