I quite liked this! PMed a stack of feedback for you…
It was very enjoyable to play in an ancient civilisation (especially a different one to the one I’ve been staring at for months now). The prose was quite nice, too! And it’s fun to have a read of something rather different, both in style and in subject matter.
My favourite part is that first wagon ride, though, I think. Before the beginning of the end, where I’m just having a highly awkward conversation with the wagon driver…there was something really delightful about it.
The permutations were interesting, too, and the definite endings. And I agree with @Asterisk, your descriptions are very vivid. Good luck with finishing it up and submitting—I hope it does really well. (:
Just curious, how do you feel about the option I’ve put in to not marry Jocasta. Do you think that’s ok/like the choice? Or do you think it weakens the story compared to the original too much. Would it be better to require the MC marry as a political marriage instead? Walking a fine line between trying to make a story with impact that stays relatively true to the original, and overly limiting player choices. Thanks
I think you should have no choice not to marry. Just a choice with how far the relationship goes.
I think it’s ok to have a choice and feel more comfortable with this/like having a choice.
Personally I feel that option not to marry makes the story interesting, by allowing the player free will and partially escape h his destiny, tricking fate. If the option isn’t there then you remove choice from player, and these games are supposedly about choice (we could get philosophical about things at this point, destiny Vs free will in choice of games!)
The first playthrough we should experience the “tragedy” side of it and require the marriage and the killing of the father. Get achievements for the uneasy things.
Here’s my twist:
On subsequent playthroughs, if the achievements is already there, then a new set of options will appear in the choice tree, including an option not to get married, an option not to kill the father, and an option to fulfill your fate without fulfilling your fate.
The third one is a bit hard to do. I’m thinking something like… if fate cursed you to marry your mother, then you can “marry” her, but not in the literal sense… work with figurative meanings to find a way to fulfill fate but not in a terrible and gross way. For example, I think the dynamics of attraction need to be greatly expanded and worked through; give the MC choices that allow him to think about WHY he is attracted to her. Some of this is already there: reasons of power, or control, etc. Those type of reasons need to be supplemented with a “well, I don’t really need to become her actual husband, I can just become her chief advisor and rule from the shadows.” That sort of relationship is intimate enough to be considered a marriage because you would become entrenched, so to speak, in the work. There should also be several options that allow the MC and his mother to get to know each other better, non-sexual options that explore and nurture several different kinds of attractions based on what the player chooses. Perhaps the love or admiration the MC has for his mother is something that, through a series of choices, the player can “untwist” or in other words, either break free from the curse, or reveal the true strings of fate that have been woven for Oedipus.
Dealing with the father so that he doesn’t die…, huh? Alright. For that, if you have the achievement from last playthrough, you could meet him in that dream sequence that shows him when he was younger but this time you could actually talk to him and, depending on what you say, alter the events of the past. If you make a strong enough case that you have no choice but to fulfill your fate and then somehow mention that it feels like you already did fulfill your fate in another life (talking about the achievement without breaking the 4th wall) then perhaps you can get another god to sponsor you and actually allow you to change the past through the dream. I’m thinking Nike, goddess of justice, would do well here.
Doing something like this would allow you to be true to the original, and also allow you an opportunity to redefine the tale for a contemporary audience.
I also preferred being forced into the tragic sections, since that’s part of the point of the original saga…otherwise I’d sort of wonder: why call it ‘Oedipus Rex’, instead of calling it ‘Miserable Things Might Happen To Ancient Greek Bloke’.
@Carlos.R, I think the idea of allowing new paths after the player has completed it once is quite neat. There are a few VNs I very much enjoyed because of a mechanic rather like that; plus, meta is always fun.
I agree with the take on the orthodox path on the story, but still my point remains… This is a gamebook/COg/HG however you want to see it. Half way through the story I remembered what Oedipus was about, I tried to change the story, and was SO HAPPY with the gods siding with me.
Philosophically speaking, we are making games because we believe that people should be in charge of their destinies due to the choices that they make, so the game as it is represents that? (Even changing an ancient Greek take?)
I might change the name of the project to Oedipus Saga.
On the opening screen, I imagine two different game modes you can play:
The Tragedy of Oedipus Rex
The Fate of Oedipus
The first option is the only one that is selectable if this is your first play, and sets the player’s expectations accordingly. Lots of tragedy here. Feelsbadman.
The second option comes up once you’ve finished the game at least once. Here, “the fate of Oedipus” could turn out to be something very different than what we might have originally had in mind so the deliberate vagueness allows for a retelling of the original story.
On the opening screen, I imagine two different game modes you can play:
The Tragedy of Oedipus Rex
The Fate of Oedipus
That could potentially work. I guess that way I can let people decide if they want to play through the original type story or more freeform by selecting the mode at the start. I’ll have a look at it
Hey everyone, working on some changes to Oedipus and was wondering what everyone thought of this being put at the begining of the game. I’m trying to give the option where the player can choose whether to play the story locked into the original fate or as a more free form for people who don’t want to go there. (I considered making it compulsory for the first playthrough but it seems as if some people might hate it, so I guess this way I can leave it up to the player to decide.)
If you choose the first option it locks you into the marriage and blinding at the end. The second option is the story without any additional restrictions that allows different endings to pop up.
(I’ve put the code here as dashingdon’s hasn’t been updated yet, still working on the files.)
Do you wish to experience the story as it was written? Or have the opportunity to escape the fate laid out by the Gods?
(To experience the full force of Oedipus' tragedy on your first play through, selecting option one is recommended.)
*label storytype
*choice
#The Tragedy of Oedipus Rex: I wish to play the story as defined by the original tragedy.
*label original
This option will restrict your options at specific points in the story to ensure the prophesy is forfilled as dictated by the orignal story of Oedipus Rex.
Would you like to proceed?
*choice
#Yes.
*set tragedy "yes"
*goto storystart
#No I've changed my mind and want greater freedom of choice.
*goto freechoice
#The fate of Oedipus: I want more free choice in my decisions.
*label freechoice
This path will allow you to make choices which might allow you to deviate from Oedipus' original fate.
Would you like to proceed?
*choice
#Yes
*set tragedy "no"
*goto storystart
#No, I've changed my mind and would prefer to play the story as defined by the original tragedy.
*goto original
Alrighty, almost there (I think). Still have to make a few changes but hopefully the artwork and chapter headings are now sorted. (Sorry dashingdons isn’t updated yet, need to make sure I haven’t broken anything with my edits.) Thanks everyone for helping get this ready The link will stay up for a bit longer yet for anyone who would still like to have a read and let me know if you think there’s any problems that need fixing.
Enjoyed the story so far, but I would have liked it if you expanded more on the epilogue portions. Perhaps additional story and choices before the ending.
@Carlos.R, you’re right, that could really use an *if for if you’ve been careful with your money. Thanks
@Mari_Gold Hmm, the epilogues were there to kind of tie up loose ends and give something of a conclusion rather than being a whole new chapter (There’s another couple of books in the Oedipus series I could have delved into.) Is there anything in particular you’d suggest should be in there though?
Edit: I’ve updated the files on dashingdons now. It still needs some more edits (I’ve got a list of things I’m still working through) so not everything that’s been suggested has been changed yet
@Jacic I’m not familiar with the other series in Oedipus Rex (if there’s any) but what I was thinking for the epilogue is that instead of just a general narration, you’d still have to make some choices. Or maybe after a general narration, a final choice would be made.
The story is quite short so any bit of expansion into the story would be welcome. I must say though, your prose version of Oedipus Rex is well written. It’s as if this is the original work instead of the greek poem-style one.
The link will stay up for a bit longer yet for anyone who would still like to have a read and let me know if you think there’s any problems that need fixing.
