I have been VERY reluctant to post here about a potential game of mine. I have spent the past few years creating a world for where I plan on having a lot of my games held. Of course, it''s a fantasy world, but it has a few little twists that I believe are truly different. the world is a mix of Tolkien''s world, Christianity, Buddhism, Greek Mythology, and a few of my own additions. Thats all not very relevant to this question. The first game I would like to create in this world called Legends is called Mendel''s Dream. Well, at least the first episode. What I''m writing about is I would like people to answer how they would react to the following situations. I have a few characters, and am wondering if their reactions align with what people would really do. So here''s the situation. You awaken in a dark blue cave. The last thing you remember is your death. All around you, you see small dog-like demons. You are bleeding heavily, and feel as if in a dream. However, your senses tell you what you experience is completely real. Obviously, in this situation there''s not much you can do. You''re weak, have no weapons, etc. but what would you feel. What would you think. Here your ideas of an afterlife would probably be challenged. It would be interesting if you also explained your ideas of what kind of afterlife you believe in (if you do) and if this would be relevant to you in this situation, or if it would be the last thing on your mind. Also, what would your reactions be to this situation if your death was caused by: 1. Natural death (old age) 2. Accidental death (in my story, one character is a miner who has a mine collapse on him) 3. Murder (a woman dies resisting rape) 4. Deserved death (questionable if it''s deserved, but one character died by being killed as he tried to sell drugs) 5. Unexpected death (A young boy of a wealthy is shot with an arrow during a riot by the peasants of a town) I know this is a long post, but for I am definitely interested in seeing what your thoughts are. I would like this game to portray real human emotion and rationiality, rather than the unrealistic behavior common in most games today. --Vic--

If we''re to assume this dog-like demon inhabited world is an afterlife, reactions are:

1. I don''t deserve this, why god, what did I do so wrong?
2. I don''t deserve this, why god, what did I do so wrong?
3. I don''t deserve this, why god, what did I do so wrong?
4. Oh sh-it, i mean, no! I wasn''t evil enough to be put here!
5. I don''t deserve this, why god, what did I do so wrong?

I''d recommend reading up on Pergatory if you want to place this afterlife idea on familiar ground.

Do you mean Purgatory, the Catholic belief of a place where you "pay" for your sins before going to heaven? That's an interesting thought. Also, you mentioned "if we are to assume this ... world is an afterlife." I didn't mean to insinuate that it was an afterlife. I simply brought that up so people would consider that in their own views of the afterlife.

I imagine some are so faithful they would believe it is a dream rather than an afterlife.

So keep that all in mind when answering. I'm curious to see what else everyone has to day.

--Vic--

[edited by - Roof Top Pew Wee on March 14, 2003 5:10:42 PM]

I think a game based on the afterlife should take on an emotional quality such that emotions are somehow expressed physically. Especially since the idea of what the afterlife will be like is mirrored by the qualities of our own emotions and what we practice with them.

I would wonder if these creatures are guardians, or what some souls arrive as. Do they follow anyone, and if so, where is this being? What's his purpose? What created this place and why?

As far as the bleeding part goes, I'd have a hard time understanding that, unless the image of yourself in the afterlife is the same as at your point of death, until perhaps you become more one with this afterlife and gradually take on a more spiritual form.

[edited by - Waverider on March 14, 2003 5:13:40 PM]

I think it would be cool to have discovering the cause of your death as the premise of the whole thing. Basically, your death was caused by unknown factors, and you''re trying to figure out how you died. You know, now that I think about it, I think that sounds a lot like the movie, Bourne Identiity, but whatever. I still think the basic idea would make for a sweet story

Also, I think you could pull something off like this going off of a book -- ever read Dante''s Inferno? It kind of reminded me of this. If you haven''t, it''s basically a man''s trip through hell, up through purgatory, before ascending to heaven. Along the way, he meets sinners and saint''s a like. Actually, the Inferno only discusses his trip through Hell, but Purgatory and Heaven are covered in the subsequent books (it''s a trilogy) Anyway, I''ve only read (part of) the Inferno, but perhaps this will give you some inspiration for your game.

*reads redeyes post*

I guess you mentioned Dante first; hadn''t read that, hehe. Going off his idea of Limbo, perhaps the game could set you off in Limbo, and the game revolves around the decisions you make -- will you end up in Heaven or Hell? Might be pretty fun, with the alternate endings and such.

Most of all, good luck!

I looked at these from a design position more than emotional.

1. Natural death (old age)
- I believe that Fable (project Ego) is doing this one... thats the end of the game in Fable... you grow old, and its also visable to the player. This would add a cool factor of a "time limit" to the game, since your gonna die soon, better hurry up and beat it. Another cool thing would be that if it uses the interal clock in the system and after 30 days your to old and die would be interesting.

End result though it doesn''t really add much to the gameplay. And could possibly be annoying.


2. Accidental death (in my story, one character is a miner who has a mine collapse on him)
- Perceivable Consequence: A consequence to an action made by the player that is predictable and that the player feels was THEIR fault or a consequence to an intentional action by the player that has a foreseeable result.

Thats the definition of this game rule. And a TRUELY accidental death would be utterly worthless if thats how the game ended, now if you can continue... then its more of a plot turn than a consequence to the player.


3. Murder (a woman dies resisting rape)
Kinda messed up, and i''m not really sure how you''d show this effectivly to the player without becoming lude. Not something I would really want to experience in a game, or really figure out how to do in a game.

4. Deserved death (questionable if it''s deserved, but one character died by being killed as he tried to sell drugs)
Like I said... if you die in a way that the game still continues or you start off back as the next character its not bad... but as actual ways to die in a game as "game over" these make the game not fun.


5. Unexpected death (A young boy of a wealthy is shot with an arrow during a riot by the peasants of a town)
Exactly like the accidental death... no difference.


Interesting concept, but it needs ALOT more fleshing out before you can think about the emotional aspects of it. You really don''t have much of a game yet from what you said. The circumstances is what will make emotion become a factor.

Derek Warner
Art Institute of Phoenix
Video Game Art and Design

Well, now that I''ve gotten a few responses, let me give some more details about the game.

Derekwarner: You said it seems like I don''t have much of a game. I''m sorry, I guess this is my fault for not giving a lot of details. But I did this on purpose so that people whow answered would be a little confused about the circumstances. I am merely presenting the introduction to the game. The game is very developed, as I have been working on a while. Don''t wanna give away all the secrets yet

As for the deaths, they are the BEGINNING of the game, not the end. So the character doesn''t have to deal with his character dying. This is their . . . history. Their story.

Let me answer some of your questions, DecoipherOne:

Wondering if the characters can remember anything else: Yes, they remember everything before and up to their deaths. There are no atheists in the game .. . . they all have some belief of the afterlife. This is all. . . well, let''s say there is a legitimate reason for this. Again, don''t want to give away the whole story. They are bleeding because of the demons. Their past wounds have nothing to do with their current physical state. All but one person has the same body as before they died. The man that died of old age has his body from when he was young and healthy, at his peak. They awoke in the cave, and are there for perhaps 30 min to one hour. They get out later, but the question is how they feel at this moment. There is a dim ambient blue light throughout the cave. The demons are very violent. There are . . . between 1 and 5, depending on the person. No one else in sight. The characters are not directly controlled by the player. The player only plays one person. However, I want to make all characters seem lifelike, so I am developing everyone''s story. Not just the main character.

Decipher, you are onto something VERY itneresting, and that is the survival thing. I was wondering what would be more strong at first. Eventually, as the characters reached safety, they would begin to question what is going on, but at first, what would they be thinking. Sure, they would be hurting, but they also just died, so that somewhat changes perception about death, if they have awoken from it. I''d love to see some more posts.

--Vic--