Warning! This thread and post contain spoilers. Do not continue reading if you plan on playing this game.
This is a long-term project currently in the planning stages.
Synopsis:
Paradox is about a man sent back in time to prevent a disaster from occurring in the future.
The disaster kills most of the human population and leaves the surface of the Earth inhabitable, forcing survivors underground. Pre-disaster, a crude form of time travel existed, though no human trials took place. With no hope in the future, the remaining survivors send the player back to prevent the disaster from occurring.
From his point of view, the player simply pops into existence without any memories. His only companion is an artificial intelligence that seems to be embedded in his mind. Only the player can hear the voice. The AI has been programmed with all future past knowledge, can calculate the odds of an event occurring and is tasked to make sure the player completes his mission.
Plan:
So… why am I posting this so early? Motivation. Better have the game open to anyone than sitting isolated on my hard drive. Putting this on-line at this point may be foolish but I want to give it a try.
I also want to have the entire sequence of choices finalized before any serious writing begins. It’ll be overwhelming but I don’t want to limit the game.
At this point in time, I’m very open to the idea of others contributing to the game.
The goal is to make a game that morphs to the actions taken by the player. I want something highly variable. Things established about or done by the player character will change how the game progresses and how the story ultimately ends.
Ideas:
The Disaster is variable:
it could be a new strain of virus
it could be a weaponized virus released accidentally
it could be a weaponized virus released on purpose
it could be radioactive fallout caused by a crashed satellite
The Player’s Past is variable:
his past self could be directly responsible for the disaster
his past self could be partly responsible for the disaster
The Player’s Future is variable:
he could be a qualified volunteer
he could be a prisoner
The Game’s End is variable:
is the disaster averted - yes or no?
the player can be killed
the player can kill himself out of futility
the player could ignore the task and live in the past
the player could be imprisoned and become stuck in the past
Why has the player lost his memory? Maybe it’s a result of travelling back in time. Could be that his memory is wiped as a precaution.
A love interest could complicate things. It may make the player choose to live out the remaining days of the past instead of trying to prevent the future from happening.
I like the idea of the player remembering watching a man getting killed as a child. The reality is that the man is actually the player. So the player ends the game dying in front of his past self. Makes for an interesting game over.
(More to come.)