Project Title: [PYG]MALION*
Powerpoint Version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GSsGoijhotooPPFXH8QZTI1phnsfMAg2/view?usp=sharing
Short Description: A visually surreal, choice-based game that explores modernism and forces the player into role of a Murdered God.
Overview: [PYG]MALION*
Note: Everything below is tentative and in the works. Things may change as I refine them, but the overall idea should be the same.
Thesis: Provoke / provide commentary on modern society’s structure and specific post-modern issues that result from this structure
Project:
A visually surreal, choice-based game that offers a 2-3-hour experience
The mechanics, underlying narrative, & meta will support thesis
Serious upgrade & facelift to a previous culture jam project*
Inspirations:
Mechanics / Tone: Disco Elysium, Death Game By Majority, Horse Master
Visuals / Themes: World of Horror by Panstasz, Love it If We Made It by the 1975
Others: Astral/Greek Mythology, Post-modern visuals & philosophies
*The Original Inspo-- The Unrequited House of Seven Pools, a super short hypertext game
Story / Settings
The Player takes the form of The Murdered God, reborn in a statue. Newly crafted by an onsite investigator, your goal is to solve the mysteries surrounding Your Demise.
A murder mystery taking place in A House of Seven Pools– one of the many inter-dimensional rests belonging to the 4th Dimension’s President. It is currently lit up with all the bells and whistles-- it seems a celebration of sorts was taking place.
2-3 Path Endings, but each playthrough has variations driven by random events.
Possible key visual for one Avatar Form; You Got Julius Caesar'd, and It Shows
Characters
Your Partner:
The junior detective who made your vessel
Your steadfast ally/disciple, but highly sensitive to The Void’s Influence
5 Suspects*:
The President of the 4th Dimension
The CEO from Beyond the Moon’s Mist
The Impendantic Allstar
The Chief of Concurrent Police
The Idol from the Ethereal Plane
Others (minor characters, mainly for progression/hints/to reinforce thesis):
Doctor, Lawyer, Private Caller, etc
* Power-point spoils what each of them, and your partner represent. May be more in later development (if I'm not dying then), but for now, these are The Baddies.
Possible Engines I’ve used before that I might use for this: Twine, Renpy, RPGmaker
Mechanics
Tag / Label System:
Decisions & encounters give you tags
Can be used to unlock more content & solve parts of the mystery
They also affect how you are Perceived and may help / hinder you
Duel Of Wits
1-on-1 Battles with Suspects, using various forms of rhetoric
Rock, Paper, Scissors but with Ethos, Logos, Pathos (Maybe)
Dynamic Character Visuals:
Your Statue
Can determine appearance, starting labels
Cracks the more you learn / traverse map, also affected by certain labels
Your Partner
Can determine their appearance, name
Can be influenced by The Suspects/Void resulting in Corruption and changing their dialogue over time & the overall ending
Ex: Some sketches to show how dialogue & visuals changing based on corruption/apathy levels.
The Game Files / Progression
The Suspects will interact with the game’s local files to tamper the investigation (like starting a new game with 100% corrupted partner. Basically, trolling)
However, if player messes with files, this is mentioned/acknowledged by several characters, and perhaps acted against by the game itself
After first playthrough (around 30mins-1 hour(?)) is completed, the vanilla game ends and Things Go Off. Each subsequent playthrough has events driven by random rolls and player tags. The more you try to “win” (successfully accuse/indict), the more the game’s system pushes back.
Star Map (I think I just refuse to give up on this):
In-game visual of story’s branching & records decision-making
Records decisions and allows you to traverse points in the mansion
Slowly erodes due to Void’s/Suspects’ Influence(?)
Questions / Thoughts
Struggling to determine best engine
I have the most experience with Twine, but because it exists in web browser, I don't know how effective it could be in messing with its own system
Renpy is one of the easiest for adding visuals and controlling actors, but I don't have as much experience with coding in it
Refining Mechanics
My main emphasis is creating a system, getting the player used to it, and then using it against them /breaking their expectations
With that in mind, what feedback could you give me on the label system & dueling mechanic?
Extra
These are a few more sketches and brainstorming from this week's work.
For Dueling
Would open with a Street Fighter-esque VS Screen, and then turn into the left image above. Dueling itself might be inspired by Suikoden's dueling system (rock, paper, scissors based on enemy quotes), allowing for better characterization... and betrayal, since Suspects might be good at hiding their intent.
The second image is old, but I'm reviving the idea as another option for duels or perhaps the final encounter. In the bad end, you end up in a Kangaroo Court.
For standard interface
While exploring, interface would be almost nonexistent. Player would see the background of whatever room they're currently in, and whatever characters are there.
When conversing with characters, though, the last image would pop up. This is sort of inspired by older RPGs, like Fallout 1 & 2, but it would also accommodate the label/tag system on the left side.
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