I have the foundations of a Steampunk game or a Futuristic game. In the Steampunk world, you would be fighting for a resistance group, dedicated to overthrowing the evil Cogs, the robotic rulers of StormCloud, the city sized airship that terrorizes 1940’s Europe. In the Futuristic one, you would be a commando for either the PRC, the USA, or a newly reformed USSR, fighting for vital oil reserves under the Antarctica. Which one do you think I should do? I want to know!
Both sound cool, though the steampunk one sounds more like dieselpunk due to the time period you’re using. Really just semantics though as it’s all an alternate history type thing where tech turned out a little differently.
Anyway I’d go with the steampunk idea.
I would like to see a Steampunk game on there.
Steampunk, pretty please with sugary clocks on top.
Yep steampunk here.
Going against the grain, I’d like to see the future one. If anyone read the book Ice Station by Matthew Reilly, I’d love to see something similar in a choice game.
I think a steampunk game would be really cool. Something we haven’t seen here before. But like EndMaster said, the premise sounds more “dieselpunk”. Both genres tend to like airships.
I tend to think of Steampunk as H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, psuedo victorian clothes, pith helmets and brass goggles.
I think of Dieselpunk as Howard Hughes, the Rocketeer, art deco styling, WW 2 dogfights and pinup girls.
Some personal favorites of mine are the “Airborne” series of young adult novels and “The Peshawar Lancers” by SM Stirling.
i think you should alternate between realities like assassins creed one future and one in the past. i also think what you do in then past should affect the future (example: in the past you kill a high member of the cogs family, in the future they become the ruler of a country and is dedicated to stopping you and your commando group. and lastly not to change your game but i think the commando should be able to do missions like (example you can kill a crazy dictator or spy on a country for war purposes or even over throw your own government). i am very intrigued by your game
Yeah generally steampunk tends to be around the Victorian era of the British Empire era up until WW1.
Dieselpunk tends to be after WW1 up until WW2 pre-atomic bomb. Another movie that comes to mind that did this was Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.
After the atom bomb is invented, you get into “Atomicpunk” which would start going into Fallout territory.
As far as combining the future storyline and the steampunk one, you could do something like this as well:
By the future the Cogs have almost taken over all of the word except for Antarctica which remains the last large bastion of human resistance. In keeping with a steampunk theme, you could have Antarctica also be the entry point for the center of earth which is how humanity is able to continue the fight against the cogs using the resources from there.
If you wanted you could add an extra layer of “gray” by suggesting that humanity has also been using some questionable tactics of their own such as exploiting the original dwellers (The Trogs perhaps?) at earth’s center in humanity’s war against the Cogs.
Obviously time travel is going to play a big role if you do this though.
Well, I counted the votes, added my personal favorite to the mix, and we have a super-complex, Future/Dieselpunk game. How bout this? A commando stationed in the Elevator, the machine that allows humans to get to under the crust, to the domain of the Geo’s, large, hulking rock beasts. He gets pulled to… well, if i told you it would not be as fun, would it?
Well, with my schedule, expect it ((!around!)) late/middle May. I will start another topic about game dev, and if you want to add any more ideas, head over to the page called StormCloud.
On a side note, have any of you read the Leviathan series? It is sorta Steam/Dieselpunk, set in WWI, with huge beasts and hulking walkers.
I think using an overly complex mash-up of genre’s is probably a bad way to go. The more complex you make this thing the harder it will be to finish. I think a really good dieselpunk story or a really good space story is better than an attempt to do both.
I feel like all of the best games on this sight use settings or genre conventions that the readers might be at least partially familiar with. If you tell me it’s set in a world similar to England during the Napoleanic Wars or New York during the 1920s I can already picture some of the details like clothing, vehicles and architecture without you having to describe them. It also helps me figure out what kind of mood and atmosphere you’re going for, whether this story is supposed to be an over the top fantasy adventure, or a more gritty and down to earth tale.
To further clarify, I think originality is great when writing a novel. However, part of the fun of Choice of Games is taking on the role of protagonists in the kinds of stories you have probably read before. If the basic premise and setting of the game are completely foreign to most players it’s going to be much more difficult for them to really get into the story.
Hmm… you are right. I do think that I will go with this one for now, but after, who knows? I could do anything that does not have sparkly vampires, so add some suggestions!
I vote for the dieselpunk game, mainly because I am unfamiliar with the specifics of the genre and would like to see it in action, and because there is a fairly high saturation of sci fi choose your own adventure games.
That’s true… I could do two separate games, and have your actions in one game carry over to another somehow… yeah, that’s a good idea. Thanks!
The first one is past, how is the USSR future?
I said “newly reformed USSR.” Sorry for the confusion.
Oh, I thought it said “newly formed”.
I may be to late but I was making imperfect wich is also a steam punk game
The good thing is that it sounds commpleatly different than yours
Good luck!