Toykiller

I'm not sure I am approaching this in the right mindset, as I'm a brand spanking new game designer with no previous experience. I am, however, an artist and habitual storyteller. From that, I would say never take multiple endings outs of the equation. I would probably go as far as to say you should make the conscious choice to take multiple endings out, rather then put them in. Either way, it should be decided before you start laying out tiles or laying out event scripting. Composition will make or break a piece of art, pacing can kill a great story, but video games are unique in the fact that they take the audiences input as a core component to their entertainment value. This means choice. They are interacting with your piece all on their own. This is nothing new in entertainment. When Bram Stroker's Dracula was released, it was a cheap knock off of a more popular novel. Once the first Red Scare happened, it became an alagory for communist power. The audience gave it new meaning and it became, retroactively, a classic. One that we will sometimes violently defend when it's classic devices are altered. <inserttwilightjoke_1-1009> Video games however are even more sensitive to this then most kinds of media. We, as developers, have to personally take into account what they will do. We can't have a glowing sword do less damage then a non-glowing axe. The players will have numeric proof of its nonsensical nature to common story tropes. The choices a player makes is part of our composition into their enjoyment. Unlike a movie or a graphic novel, we can alter their experience to their desires. Imagine having a Private Detective game. Early in the story, the player has an option to shoot a bad guy or investigate undetected. If that triggers a switch, we can have more action style 'Fugitive' based game or a deeper slower more tense style 'The Departed' intrigue and mystery. And they can flow back and forth. Maybe they land the same place, maybe they don't. Maybe in one you get the notorious mobster put behind bars, and the other you take over the mob empire. Don't limit yourself to moral spectrum endings. Limit yourself to player desired outcomes and suit the game play to get there based on each. That way, when Timmy plays the game as a kid, he can shoot out and blaze through the criminal underworld and smile at becoming the best, but as an adult, he can examine and learn and uncover the secrets hidden behind the unassuming laundry mat on Brayden St. But, maybe what I'm saying is unrealistic.

There is a concept of 'Wolds' spelling intended, that every organism functionally lives in a separate universe then our own. (I.E. Dogs don't understand why their owners would stare at pieces of paper, as they are so olfactory dependent. Meanwhile, ants are essentially living a post apocalyptic life everyday with maurading hives on all sides and pesticides raining down) But parallel evolution makes me believe that if something were to evolve on another planet, the reliance on technology would make them believe they were smarter, stronger faster, etc, but those are traits required to survive an enviorment where your only advantage of those around you are tool usage. But, hey, what do I know? I can't even tell you how my iPhone works. I'm sure aliens would be able to figure it out magically.

Again, thank you! I did a lot of work with troubled kids and figured it'd be good to present a game where they're niether villain or victim. But I digress... I'm not sure where to go from original concept of the graphic novel. I'm still on the look out for interesting interactable objects and ways to flutter about the story. Things like getting a lost kid to an employee or to their parents, scaring away specific customers, or trying to disprove a fraudulent medium. Any ideas on that front would be wonderful!

I have an odd opinion on what will happen when aliens come to visit us. bombs, death beams, and worst of all, their computers don't run on Apple iOS. End of the world and all that hoplah. Then admist all of the chaos, they suddenly apologize. they thought we were simply historical reinacters, and they're intergalatic Griefers. Since the odds finding native life is so slim across the galaxy, especially when you can simply 3D Print clones on a sub-atomic scale all across the universe they didn't even stop to think that maybe we hadn't reached their level of technology. They hand off a gift for to help us rebuild and log off, exploding all their previous gear and mark the planet as wild life preserve, hoping they don't get caught nearly commiting genocide on a developmental speciese and getting grounded by thier parents. but that may just be me.

Thank you very much! I'm an illustrator (by education at least), and this idea was originally going to be a graphic novel, but the theme and scope I felt needed a bit more of an interactive consideration. I've never played haunt the house before, but in title alone it sounds similar. I've considered from the get go (much of the game revolves around old British folk lore and such) on having feral cats roaming the faire grounds and where they stand by are signals to the player as switches that would put things into motion, so if they get lost or board all they need to do is find a cat and mess around a bit. I think, in terms of the story, it'd be much more valuable for players to find their own path then designated levels. In essence, the story puts players in the shoes of an abused kid. Feeling like you can't be seen or heard, only having agency in your own life by doing things that are considered wrong. I'd probably have to map out numerous paths, bigger triggers and events, but the dichotomy of ghost or monster really needs to be in the players hand. Labeling something as a level makes it a meaningless 'did you get the ghost ending?' feel rather then a personalized journey in understanding and coping with a terrifying situation. Now, naturally, just having puzzles in wait around the carnival for the players is still just a level select scene, dressed up as personal agency, but I sincerely want to hide the common game identifiers as much as possible.

I'm brand new to RPGMaker. I've had an idea in my mind for a while, and after looking over Rpg maker and tutorials, I've decided that I'm finally going to try it out. The general concept is that you play as a Casper esque friendly ghost. No combat, your not out to kill things, but you are stuck haunting a circus. There is a medium who you can save the game through, but largely, no one can see or hear you. You can affect the world by tampering with electronics and stealing small items, returning them to other places and you cause animals around you to freak out. The first few days of game time, you'll learn what kind of effect you can have on the circus (IE, if you stand under a light for too long, it'll blow out. Then a maintenance guy will come to fix it.) After that, other events start to occur around you outside of your control. Things like your former family coming into visit the circus, a group of kids coming to investigate the claims of the circus being haunted after hours and the ultimate bad guy, a boogy man, arriving. Most of the game will revolve around events and switches, but aside from some basic ideas, I'm at a loss for what all the player can do to influence the world and just have fun. I'm talking about Rube Goldberg contraptions; steal a gate pin and spoke the trained elephant to have it rampage around, steal tools and break the Ferris wheel to trap a problematic NPC. I'm also not really sure what all or how to map out all the possible things the player could do, as I'm using the ghost as an engine to reflect and discuss ideas of the consequences of your actions. With the trial, I'll probably focus on making a minimal viable game. Make lights flicker with out the players involvement, or bust while under it. From there I'll expand to having NPCs talk about random things (that the player is eavesdropping on) and reacting to the stuff that's going on. Any ideas or criticisms are welcome! Thank you for reading!