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Direction When Working With Controversial Themes

Carl Halvorson · 2017-12-16T09:10:28

Hello, all. So to start, I just want to put it out there that I'm not creating this game to be edgy or intentionally stir up controversy, it simply exists that this is a controversial matter. I am making the game because it is actually something that matters to me, something I don't often see portrayed in any sort of realistic manner. Furthermore, the general theme is not unique but the actual player interaction with the game is. I can't find anything really even similar, so while I'm sure this seems conceited or ridiculous, I want to share as little as possible about the actual planned mechanics. The game I am currently working on revolves almost entirely around drugs and drug culture, and I'm at a bit of a crossroads in deciding my ultimate goals for this project because I'm fairly unsure what particular direction to take this game in from the environments to the writing. I grew up surrounded by addicts and junkies, so on one hand I want to create a very dark ambient game showcasing the damage that hard drug use does to people and their families, and the way that drug lords take advantage of those situations. Again not to stir up trouble, but if anything to put other people who have no experience with that world in that perspective. Unfortunately I see that either way, with the planned player interaction in this game, it is going to wind up being controversial and many people will dislike seeing first hand the awful world that these drugs are surrounded by. Even further than that, I don't want it to seem that I'm encouraging the actions throughout this game. In my mind the world displayed would be depraved, depressing, even downright disgusting at times. But in the same light, so is Grand Theft Auto in many cases, yet many people still believe it's encouragement to live that kind of life. On the other hand, one solution I had thought of to the previous worries was to take this in a polar opposite direction under the same theme. Make a comedic drug game, with comedic environments, maybe even comedic elements to the player interaction with the world itself. Now.. That feels like making light of the situation to me. That makes me feel like I'm even more so encouraging it in the sense that I'm making it funny, I'm making players believe it's a goofy culture that is no where near as bad as it truly is in the real world. I was imagining fake drug names representing real drugs, similar but funnier reactions from the people using these drugs, and even mostly comedic dialogue. To be quite honest, I don't like that vision nearly as much, but if that's what I have to do to avoid reactions such as the game Hatred brought on, I will find a way.. But really to me the dark realism is part of what makes my vision complete, I want it to be a fairly true to life perspective; I don't however want to have players see the game itself as a negative thing so much as they're intended to see the world and culture as negative. I have also considered where a nice middle ground could be drawn, but so far I can only figure mostly dialogue. Things that are funny, but not really. Like a guy who is tripping on 10x more acid than you should ever take just spouting absolute nonsense about the purple people eaters living in his sink. Sorry for the book but I just want to explain my design thoughts as thoroughly as possible so I can put across a large part of my vision without revealing the workings of the game. If you have any thoughts on the topic, please fire away. If you think that I should create my original vision and I should just deal with the potentially massive backlash, let me know. If you think I need to dial things back to comedy, or have any ideas on how I could find a middle ground, please. Let me know. Thank you all!

Game Design and Theory Game Design

Started by Ossie Halvorson December 10, 2017 07:05 PM

10 comments, last by frob 6 years, 6 months ago

frob

46,242

December 16, 2017 09:10 AM

It can be done, but I agree with the oil-and-water analogy. They are hard to blend, but there are many useful emulsions that blend the two well.

Consider DepressionQuest. It is a simple game with a simple story, but it is highly compelling and effective at communicating the seriousness of something many humans experience.