Utterly Mad
The Pit => Creative Endeavors => Topic started by: Bubbadoo on May 04, 2015, 04:54:13 pm
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Just some random ideas for games you may have thought of. Thought it would be a good idea to make a thread for them, as the idea could may even be used in some game someday.
Here is a couple I tossed around in my head while I stayed awake all night unable to sleep.
A difficult game (Dunno what genre is could be best in maybe Platformer? RPG?) with a prestige system as resetting will give you reward to make the game a little easier but the further you make it without dying the higher the prestige award if you decide to reset. Kind of like a more skillful gambling.
A horror game where your only source is a flashlight, with batteries being very rare... but it's the kind of flashlight that has the little thing jutting on the side you can press to run it without using the battery. Though it is a fast and dull flash of light... and very loud in a horror game who knows what might be just out of sight that could hear it. Then there's moments where you need to use it but you have no batteries. you think you saw something in the small glimpse of light maybe in the corner of your eye, you shine it again to see this monstrosity rushing at you in your second glimpse of light quickly getting closer to you... untill...
KCHT
Game Over
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I was thinking of a game were you are using a computer console of some kind to tell your player (that would be a square, I guess) what do do and where to go. It would be an infiltration game, and the console would be really, really basic.
However, later on the game implies that you are telling actual people what to do, and when they die, they die for real, and all is an spy organization of some kind.
Each level would be unique, and if you die, you can't repeat the level unless you start the whole game over, implying, again, that the agent died.
If you do bad, at the end of the game you'd be discovered by the enemy organization and killed off, but you are never told everything.
If you do certain things you could also get some papers of the enemy organization with would tell you the back story, and that the agent would send you. But if you do this, the agent has to die or they would say something and you would be caught.
The real end? I don't think there'd be one. Just different endings, like being caught by the enemies, by your side or just doing all the missions perfect, or at least doing most.
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I was thinking of a game were you are using a computer console of some kind to tell your player (that would be a square, I guess) what do do and where to go. It would be an infiltration game, and the console would be really, really basic.
However, later on the game implies that you are telling actual people what to do, and when they die, they die for real, and all is an spy organization of some kind.
Each level would be unique, and if you die, you can't repeat the level unless you start the whole game over, implying, again, that the agent died.
If you do bad, at the end of the game you'd be discovered by the enemy organization and killed off, but you are never told everything.
If you do certain things you could also get some papers of the enemy organization with would tell you the back story, and that the agent would send you. But if you do this, the agent has to die or they would say something and you would be caught.
The real end? I don't think there'd be one. Just different endings, like being caught by the enemies, by your side or just doing all the missions perfect, or at least doing most.
If you're telling them what to do rather than directly controlling them, there could be some morality mechanic for each individual spy, and could outright refuse to do the commands.
Or that could just be straight-up annoying and cause ragequits. Probably depends on how well-done it is.
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That idea sounds awesome, if incorporated right.
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Yessss I am totally meaning to do something like this when I advance enough with TV Shoots Baddies like to be able to start another project!
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A text game where you play the guard of a prison, and as you progress through the days system, gaining more story and money and equipment through roguelike style combat with traitors and escapees as well as just reading through the story, slowly realise you are playing the guard of a concentration camp, with subtle hints of what happened. E.g. "Another group got killed today, that'll teach them." With you believing it was a group of escapees, but was just a group of innocent people. Towards the end, your life as a guard becomes harder and the details larger until you A, kill yourself or B, wait for the liberation of your 'prison'.
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I've had a handful of FPS ideas floating about in my head with varying levels of complexity in regards to mechanics, ammunition, etc. One of the reasons I've even had these ideas in the first place is the number of spring-powered airsoft guns I own (I like to play out reload animations from existing games using them), and figured "hey, I wonder if I could use these as models in my own game." Thus, my ideas spread out from there.
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Okay, time to say why I haven't been writing or well doing much anything.
I've been working on a idea that may sound outlandish in a way, but I kinda want it to sound outlandish.
First it started out as a joke "sim" game to help me get some experience in the world on coding.
Then I started thinking about expanding the joke into something more bizarre.
Then finally after some doodling and some thinking (families out of town so I've had plenty thinking time); I've decided on a game that I'll give the [WIP] name Utterly Mad. Why? Because the idea, story, and concept are all Utterly Mad and will most likely make me look like a bafoon.
I want to make a Metroidvannia style'd game in which you descend down into your new house's basement to discover a entrance to a dungeon that slowly reveals more Lovecraftian and Poe elements the further down you go; this is where its going to sound crazy but... I want to do it in a cartoony artstyle and now I will explain why.
1. Because all I'm really good at is doodling and making semi-crap/semi-decent cartoon drawings.
2. Because when you start finding "deep lore" {Basic example: Dagon, Red Death, or Cthulhu}, I want them to look 'realistic'. Think of how Courage the Cowardly Dog was cartoony, but at random times they'd have photoreal monsters that normally hail from other dimensions.
3. Cartoons are easy to animate better without them looking like utter shit in 3D.
Originally I wanted it to be another run-of-the-mill FPS horror, but I think a 3D or 2D game might work better. Also its mostly just a string of ideas at the moment, nothing really concrete except one thing; I want the game to become more macabre and bizarre the further into the dungeon you go, possibly simulating a descent into madness that so many Lovecraftian or Poe characters often go through.
And the level design is also another problem, I'm thinking about making it 3D with rooms similar to how Zelda dungeons are (they have a simple or complex puzzle in them that you have to solve, or its just a room).
So instead of trying to piece words together I'll just list a list of things.
I don't really want guns in the game, at all, if you're going to be fighting or defending against horrors from the depths of wherever; then having a gun may either defeat the purpose of them being all-powerful beings, or maybe because I personally think adding guns into a horror game is kinda cliche in a sense. However I don't want the player to be defenseless, I think using makeshift weapons or traps, or artifacts that you gather would be way better then firing bullets at something. [Perigrin, I think that melee crating system we talked about for The Highway would be great in this respect!]
The bonus or secret areas should be something really cool or interesting to find, I don't want it to be a shitty room that looks like the rest but it has more ammo or whatever. No, I want the bonus levels to be a "taste" of what the later game will feel like. I'm talking about breaking through a wall and finding a portal that leads to the Dagon's underwater city, "Y'ha-nthlei" Or have a secret room that has a secret item for a secret puzzle of secrets.
I personally like it when games have a huge mystery inside them, that gamer nerds go on about for years and years to figure out. I was personally thinking about having a secret quest to defeat or join The Yellow King, and finding him would require know how of both the lore inside the game, and lore outside the game. And maybe having a few other things like this for the more less known Old Ones like Nyarlathetep or having a bigger quest that involves finding The Yellow King; said bigger quest would be about finding 'Azathoth', and upon seeing Azathoth, your game will crash.
Also even with the cartoon-style I want there to still be horror in the game, and since its cartoony it'll help enforce the fact that subtle or 4th wall horror might catch people off-guard (which in turn may surprise or scare people). One example of this would be the mirrors, early in the game (I'm talking right at the start) if you stare into a mirror for more then 5 minutes the area around the mirror will start to darken, tendrils will slowly start pouring from the edges of the mirror and tentacle-like appendages will start creeping out towards the player. If the player just keeps on staring the appendages will wrap around the player and pull them into the mirror. Killing them instantly. (Although I have an idea that involves doing this exact same thing to get to another location.)
So what do you think?
[[Also when I mean cartoony, I don't mean going full-on Wind Waker. I'm talking more "Spooky's House of Jumpscares" or the game "Eldritch". Basically giving the monsters exaggerated proportions, giving the character exaggerated facial details, etc... Alright better comparison, think of Monkey Island with Wind Waker's animation, with a hint of Lovecraft drawn illustrations.]]
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Hmm, for a good example of a creepy cartoon game, look at Knock Knock. Also, for the mirror thing, almost the EXACT thing you said was done in Doom3, and it was terrifying. Plus, if we are going Obscure Lovecraft, bring in Cythlla and Yog Sothoth. Most people are only familiar with Cthulhu, Gnarly, and Hastur. The King in Yellow would be a neat thing too, as is the Hanged King from SCP. Also, for monsters, if going Lovecraft, shy away from Shoggoths and Deep Ones. They are too familiar to most people, and the emphasis is on the bizarre and unknown in Lovecraft.
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Hmm, for a good example of a creepy cartoon game, look at Knock Knock. Also, for the mirror thing, almost the EXACT thing you said was done in Doom3, and it was terrifying. Plus, if we are going Obscure Lovecraft, bring in Cythlla and Yog Sothoth. Most people are only familiar with Cthulhu, Gnarly, and Hastur. The King in Yellow would be a neat thing too, as is the Hanged King from SCP. Also, for monsters, if going Lovecraft, shy away from Shoggoths and Deep Ones. They are too familiar to most people, and the emphasis is on the bizarre and unknown in Lovecraft.
No, there will be Shoggoths, and Deep Ones... but they're going to be the more obscure **** you could find. [Also Doom3's was a jumpscare, an effective one at that I might add. I was thinking more slowly creeping towards the player and as soon as they start moving it follows them] But yeah, if you know me, you'll know I want to shy away from Cthulhu; mainly due to the fact that Cthulhu should be dead and only talking to you through dreams, so I might have Cthulhu randomly start whispering to you the deeper into the lore you go. [I didn't really care for The Call of Cthulhu, as sinful to HP as that is]
Also Yog Sothoth is the major part to getting to Azathoth, since Yog Sothoth is basically the only way of getting to him. And the reason why I've wanted to do The King in Yellow, is because The King in Yellow is the avatar of Hastur; and since you aren't supposed to say his name (and since The King in Yellow is a creepy ass book) I'd thought that including a big secret quest that leads to bigger things would be neat.
But now that I think of it, maybe some doing obscure horror for this game might be the best bet.
I mean everyone has heard of Cthulhu, The Statue, and The Raven. But why not have more obscure references or works in there; why not have a level set in the tower described in HP's The Outsider, or have the bone dimension from Rats in The Walls.
We could really go all out if people start fishing for more obscure works, or creating their own monsters.
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Hmmm
The king in yellow is one of Gnarly's avatars, not Hastur. And if we are bringing obscure monsters and home brew, I have monsters from mt recurring nightmares that would fit. The Suessikin and Fuse are the ones that come to mind from my nightmares. But, Obscure Lovecraft trivia, if Cthulhu is dead, he is set to emerge from.his daughter Cythlla's womb after some time, because Lovecraft was a creepy mofo. That could play in.
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Hmmm
The king in yellow is one of Gnarly's avatars, not Hastur.
http://www.yog-sothoth.com/wiki/index.php/Hastur
http://kinginyellow.wikia.com/wiki/Hastur
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_in_Yellow
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hastur
Hmmm
The king in yellow is one of Gnarly's avatars, not Hastur. And if we are bringing obscure monsters and home brew, I have monsters from mt recurring nightmares that would fit. The Suessikin and Fuse are the ones that come to mind from my nightmares. But, Obscure Lovecraft trivia, if Cthulhu is dead, he is set to emerge from.his daughter Cythlla's womb after some time, because Lovecraft was a creepy mofo. That could play in.
I know. Cthulhu remains dreaming in R'lyeh till' that happens. I've read almost all his stories. I got streetcred.
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Ok, you are right, my mind got messed up there. Does seem like something Gnarly would do, fucking with humans like that.
Hmmmm
Lovecraft us interesting, in that he very rarely described anything in much detail, so there is room for interpretation. Shoggoths could be scary if not given a proper shape like a lit of games do, and simply being a sliding black mass. Deepones.... Need a bit of work. They are scarier for what they do than what they are.
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Ok, you are right, my mind got messed up there. Does seem like something Gnarly would do, ****ing with humans like that.
Hmmmm
Lovecraft us interesting, in that he very rarely described anything in much detail, so there is room for interpretation. Shoggoths could be scary if not given a proper shape like a lit of games do, and simply being a sliding black mass. Deepones.... Need a bit of work. They are scarier for what they do than what they are.
If we were to include Shoggoths, I'd want them to be big and in a almost pitch black area of the game. It'll make them look formless and massive (as they should be), but if we were to include smaller ones, we should make an algorithm that randomly places whats described on the Shoggoth's "base".
Same with Deepones. The monsters should be have "silhouettes" as closer inspection of them would be dangerous. Also I think including some brutal deaths might help in this regard [IE: Being absorbed and dissolved in a Shoggoth, Deepone ripping you limb from limb then dragging your corpse off, maybe have a cutscene if you get "killed" by a cultist, showing you getting sacrificed or being converted into their ways].
But I mostly want to shy away from Cthulhu, his presence should be unexpected or so subtle that you barely even notice him; every time a game introduces Cthulhu or brings him in, it ends up floundering and fucking up badly.
Also in true Lovecraftian/Poe fashion, there won't be a good ending where you kill all the old ones and live a normal life. You either will go insane and take your own life, or go insane and embrace the lore by the end of it; or go insane and stick around in the dungeon for the rest of your life trying to survive against impossible odds. Also I'm thinking about having the Old Ones being nearly impossible to beat, or maybe having an alliance system; where you can swear fealty to a Old One, and get some perks out of it. But that may be a bad idea, or a genius idea; because either way the Old One of your choosing would be working through you or simply just use you until they decide that you have to go.
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The funny thing is, Cthulhu is a fairly minor power in Lovecraft. He showed up directly in only one story. Lovecraft himself titled his work "The Yog-Sothoth Cycle", because Yog Sothoth was a much bigger player than Cthulhu. Also, if you are doing Shoggoths as a black screen portion, why not have the Colours Out Of Space appear as a massive graphical clusterfuck, like trying to render all colors at the same time.
The Poe style protagonist would be a better choice, as a lot of Lovecrafts protagonists were crazy, narrow minded, and horribly Xenophobic to begin with. Just going with a depressed crazy guy might be better. Also, cats have to show up, because Lovecraft loved cats.
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The funny thing is, Cthulhu is a fairly minor power in Lovecraft. He showed up directly in only one story. Lovecraft himself titled his work "The Yog-Sothoth Cycle", because Yog Sothoth was a much bigger player than Cthulhu. Also, if you are doing Shoggoths as a black screen portion, why not have the Colours Out Of Space appear as a massive graphical cluster****, like trying to render all colors at the same time.
The Poe style protagonist would be a better choice, as a lot of Lovecrafts protagonists were crazy, narrow minded, and horribly Xenophobic to begin with. Just going with a depressed crazy guy might be better. Also, cats have to show up, because Lovecraft loved cats.
Maybe the protagonist could be a mix of both, moving to the country to both get away from people and maybe to discover a purpose for himself (which ultimately gives him the shaft). The Colors Out Of Space would have to do some serious ""DAMAGE"" to your screen to make it look like your graphics card is screwing up. Maybe cats could symbolize safe places, or maybe you can have a pet cat that you carry around with you.
Also I was thinking about having it set somewhere in the modern day, since placing it back in the 20s or 30s might be too much of a dead give away. [[Also keep the protag silent, maybe pull an Artyom where he only "speaks" through notes or diary entries that get written the more you discover.]]
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That works. Mabye make the first hour or so of the game out as a typical cartoony adventure, and then get.... Weird. Also, Jumpscares are a no for Lovecraft. Its a subtle scare at first.
Hmmmm
Wait, I know a lot of the Deities in Lovecrafts works have very set in stone spellings (Gnarly, Hastur), but a big point he makes is that most names are just spelled close to how they sound, so changing spellings around might keep the suspense up. Cthulhu becomes Chutuhlo, Mi-Ho becomes Mehgoh, Shoggoth becomes Shughoth, Cythlla becomes Citalluh, Shub Niggruth becomes Shebnigroth, all kinds of things like that. Remember, the protagonist does not know the spelling, only the whispered named in inhumane tones.
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That works. Mabye make the first hour or so of the game out as a typical cartoony adventure, and then get.... Weird. Also, Jumpscares are a no for Lovecraft. Its a subtle scare at first.
Hmmmm
Wait, I know a lot of the Deities in Lovecrafts works have very set in stone spellings (Gnarly, Hastur), but a big point he makes is that most names are just spelled close to how they sound, so changing spellings around might keep the suspense up. Cthulhu becomes Chutuhlo, Mi-Ho becomes Mehgoh, Shoggoth becomes Shughoth, Cythlla becomes Citalluh, Shub Niggruth becomes Shebnigroth, all kinds of things like that. Remember, the protagonist does not know the spelling, only the whispered named in inhumane tones.
And since most of us here are perfectionists with a elitist attitude love for horror. I can see this game happening.
Also if there are going to be any jumpscares (which I'm really against), I want them to be PT styled, out of nowhere, unexpected, and violently in your face. No build up, just them appearing at you and you have to deal with the problem. But I'd save that for the Deepones ambushing you.
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If you have ever played FEAR, that is what I consider to be excellent horror. You know why the abomination acts the way it does at the end, but up until then Alma is an unknowable, violent, and very powerful force. This is combined with how the game handles jumpscares. The only flat out in you face jumps are is actually a Human. The others, with Alma, tend to be blink and you miss it corner of the eye apparitions. Hardly lovecraft, but still effective.
also, on topic of scares, games where you KNOW its there and just not bugging you, until it randomly decides to start bugging you, tend to be more compelling scares, because you KNOW,its there, you are just helpless to stop it.
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So I've been learning Javascript, and as it turns out if you know Javascript, you should know the basics of how Dream Maker works.
After I'm done learning Javascript I'm going to start working on a SS13-modified version of Clearer Pines. I'm most likely going to use TG as a basis for it since their codebase is more similar to Gooncode and actually shares some of the mechanics from Goon, and I know Goon like the back of my hand.
Want I'm wanting to do is create a huge forest for FBI, KGB, and American Tourists to all dick around in for hours on end, with secrets contained in every Z-level (Surface, above ground, below ground, The Deeps). The main objective to win is to either have only FBI agents, or only KGB members still alive; but where things get more interesting is the Tourists. Some of them can be Communist Sympathizers and try to help supply the KGB whenever they find them, so FBI members randomly killing tourists makes sense when you see that some of the fuckers are actually helping the enemy.
And the Tourists can get recruited once word gets out that the gun-toting "park rangers" are actually FBI agents. So you could possibly have everyone in the server constantly stalking, shooting, and trying to capture each other.
You also have a high-command Z-level where both the KGB offices and FBI offices lie (you have to take a plane from the airport to either Russia or America... which is just a teleporter disguised as a flight gate. That's where you can get new orders, and look at Stalin's glorious 8-bit mustache. For the American side... its where you get to do all your paper work.
But not only that, but I'm also going to add stuff that leads into the exploration I was wanting people to do; finding weird stuff in the woods, like cabins filled with corpses and there's an NPC wielding a chainsaw there; or a lab entrance that lets you find stuff like a cloning lab that you could repair to bring back your allies (this part will be different from regular SS13 cloning, you'll have to find the right DNA pattern to put in to make them undead... if you do this wrong... lets say it'll be !!FUN!!).
Finally there will be a full The Ship styled needs system. What would a isolation woodland sim be if you weren't shitting in the woods, feeling the crippling loneliness of not seeing another human being, and killing every Commie rabbit you find to try and stay somewhat sustained.
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Update on the AJ coding front.
I finally passed the basics of JavaScript and I'm moving on to the first mini-project. Even greater then that, I was just told about how many credits I do have and how I basically just have to pass math. So most of my time at school is dicking around in the library. Which means I can use that time to learn coding, or actually, you know, code.
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Update on the AJ coding front.
I finally passed the basics of JavaScript and I'm moving on to the first mini-project. Even greater then that, I was just told about how many credits I do have and how I basically just have to pass math. So most of my time at school is dicking around in the library. Which means I can use that time to learn coding, or actually, you know, code.
WOOO
Looking forward to what you produce.