Hello CoG forums. I recently began working on my first choice script game. I have completed roughly 2000 words so far,
around three chapters. The focus of this game is on 17th century Pirates. The game plays similar to Choice of Broadsides, but I am doing my best to make it unique. The basic premise is you are a pirate hunter working for the government of Arria (a fictional country similar to England). I stole the name from a previous project of mine named the island of Arria (hence my profile name) that I gave up on almost immediately. This time I’m in it for the long haul though, and I tried to narrow the scope considerably. What do you guys think about a Pirate themed game? Any suggestions for the title? And what do you guys want to see that will convince you it’s not a CoB clone.
That’s not very welcoming. I suggested that @TheIslandOfArria create a thread instead of using the choice of broadsides thread. They have completed 3 chapters.
I’d be interested to know if you’re going for realistic pirates, or are you going for fictional, movie-style romantic pirates, like Pirates of the Caribbean? Will there be both women and men on the ship?
just dont make it suck
You should’ve waited until you have a demo.
@FairyGodFeather I’m not sure actually. Haven’t quite decided. Probably more realistic pirates. Again, what do you guys think?
I suppose I could put up what I have done as a “Demo”, but it’s mostly just plot and stat setup so far. And many sections are awaiting some added detail. I’m focusing on developing the framework and story first, and then fleshing out some of the scenes to really bring them to life later.
Well how much research have you done about pirates and what sort of areas are you researching? That should decide the realistic/romantic answer. Which of the two interests you more? What’s closer to the theme of the game?
@FairyGodFeather I have done a bit of research about pirate havens, since part of the story will take place there. I’m also just researching things as they come up.
The basic objective in the story is to hunt down and defeat the pirate, Captain Smythe, who is raising a fleet with the intention of taking down the Arrian port of La Pared. The captain has set up a network of spies, however, so not only will you need to defeat him at sea, but you will also need to avoid being captured/killed by his spy network.
Based on this, I am currently feeling like I want to portray the pirates in a more gritty, realistic fashion. In other words, not making it look glamorous to be a pirate. Your thoughts?
I don’t know that much about pirates. I’ve mostly just played games like Sid Meir’s Pirates! and The Secret of Monkey Island, and watched movies like PotC, and played the 7 Seas tabletop game.
I will admit that I prefer my pirates cinematic and unrealistic with much swashbuckling and grand adventures and just a nod towards reality. I’m in a minority here though.
Are you a navy ship or a privateer? See I don’t even know if that’s a legitimate question to ask. I just remember playing Pirates with my letter of marquee hunting down other pirate vessels.
Will your pirate ships have skulls and crossbones or will they be flying proper pirate colours?
Will it be your side as good against pirates as bad? Or will you be taking in to consideration all the problems of the navy at the time too? What with the pressganging and everything and possible allow your protagonist to switch sides?
Is the Arrian / Aryan similarity deliberate?
@FairyGodFeather Actually no, Arria is just a name I came up with on a past project and I was too lazy to come up with something else.
And actually, since thinking about it a little more, I’m beginning to agree with you about the realistic vs Romantic view on pirates. I don’t think you are a minority, and that’s actually how most people think of pirates. I think it’d certainly be more fun to write it like that, and as I have started reading over what I have already written I realized that I’m already sort of writing it that way.
To answer your other question, you are operating as a privateer, but the Arrian navy has specifically commissioned you to join their pirate hunting fleet. The fleet gets destroyed by Captain Smythe rather quickly, and you are one of only a few surviving vessels.
As a side note, You like Sid Meir’s Pirates? That’s like one of my favorite games ever.
I haven’t decided whether or not to allow the player to actually become a pirate, because although I think it’d be pretty cool it’d also branch the story line out a lot making it more difficult to write. Since this is my first real choicescript game I would like to keep it simple.
Will your game have ship to ship conflict and boarding actions with sword fights and the like.
@undead Yes, what kind of pirate game wouldn’t have that!
Will you have magic and/or supernatural elements in your game? Like in PotC, or will it be very firmly grounded in the real world?
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Pirate is a fun read.
@FairyGodFeather I had kicked the idea around… still not totally sure. I actually watched PotC the other day for inspiration. I like it, but then I don’t.
Thanks for the interesting article by the way. I’ll have to use some of that.
What’s your personal opinion on the magic/supernatural stuff? I just can’t decide whether I like it or not.
Also just wanted to thank you for giving me all these great ideas.
I think that while the idea of a pirate game definitely has some merit, it would be exceedingly hard to pull it off without adding bizarre plot twists and original story elements. Seeing as this is your first story, you may wish to question using pirates as your theme.
That being said, pirates can be entertaining and very rewarding - as is shown by Pirates of the Caribbean and treasure island.
You can edit your posts within 30 minutes of posting them so no need to double post.
I think what matters most is what sort of story you want to tell.
If I were writing a pirate story, for instance, I’d have magic, I’d have searches for magical artifacts and the Marie Celeste and mermaids and sirens and the kraken, and a voyage into the unknown with islands filled with strange and wonderful things to be discovered. I’d have ships crewed entirely by women, I’d have sentient ships, I’d have sentient figureheads, and I’d have mages who can use weather or sea magic who everyone would be desperate to have onboard. But, that’s what I’d do. I tend to write most things tongue in cheek, I’m not great at realism, and I prefer all my stories to have a touch of the fantastic about them.
Now there’s others who’d much rather play an accurate historical simulator, which uses history as its basis and has no magic at all. Something gritty about the realities of the sea, and all the problems, and ships with no women onboard. (Unless you’re speaking of the famous female pirates).
Now, you have to think about what things you like. What do you enjoy writing, that’s what’s most important. What is it about pirates that intrigues you? Why do you want to write a pirate story? A story where pirates are the villains. What did you like about Choice of Broadsides? What did you dislike. What themes and areas do you want to explore?
@FairyGodfeather
Pirate crews don’t necessarily have to be all-male, even if you’re going for ultrarealism. Pirates already flout the accepted social order, and female pirates like Anne Bonny and Grace O’Malley don’t have to be exceptions to the rule. There’s no hard and fast historical edict preventing a player from running a pirate queen in a realistic setting.