[Silent Sound] Revisiting My White Whale
hix:
I haven't got time to reply in more detail right now, but I just wanted to say that your aim for this game (which is some ways is like Angel Heart the RPG) sounds really good. The idea of playing a character who you hope will turn out to be a good person, but who you fear may wind up being revealed as deserving punishment ... I love it.
Anything you can do to reinforce that sense of the players struggling and twisting to evade that sort of revelation that they deserve to be damned, I'd be right behind.
Callan S.:
I'd think instead of 'follow clues', the entire environment is a reflection of either the characters condemnation or its absolution. In as much if 'follow the clues' is there, it's there simply as an aspect of condemnation or absolution. Any moving on to different places/rooms, the actual moving is also a reflection of condemnation or absolution.
I think these environments would be crafted by the player, and most importantly, whether something has to do with condemnation or absolution is utterly unknown to the player in the moment of play. The player crafts without any idea of 'oh, this means absolution' or anything. They just craft. If the player describes a weeping statue, cold stone hand outstretched, is this part of the character going to absolve themselves? Or is it part of condemnation? Who knows? Even every step has something to do with either - there is no step that is just a mundane, banal step. All of them are with great significance - and a significance that is utterly unknown at the time.
That's my reaction to the 'I don't know where to put interesting choices'. The interest comes from knowing all things described have an almost excruciating significance, but having absolutely no idea why. And frankly, no matter how vivid the images at the end of the game get, I'd say mechanically you don't determine any absolution or condemnation. Merely have those intense images and that's it. To paraphrase what I said with diary of a skull soldier: what are the intense images for? They are there to make you wonder what they are. Which should annoy Ron, but let me say I don't mean wonder in a 'sit there with a glass of wine thinking how great oneself is' wonder.
Not sure how much that meshes with what you've written so far. But in terms of inserting interesting choices - I'd say this simply begs for the entire environment and every single movement in it to be a hotbed of significance towards some end. You don't need to insert choices. Even breathing, in such a place, reeks of significant choice. Even if you just can't stop.
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