Lots of topics here about WIPs and coding help, but so few about Interactive Fiction as a whole, so I thought I’d ask a fun question: What, if anything, would constitute your dream game? Ignore the practical realities of coding and time management and just stick that shovel right into your brain and dig out what you would like to see in IF as time goes on! Do you want to see more of a particular genre? What about more complex characters? Intricate consequences? Tell us all about it!
Personally, I would like to see more games try to break mold a little bit in terms of plot. So many of them read like YA chapter books, (which is totally fine!!!), but I want to see if anybody can make a game that plays more like traditional video games, where the player is self-directed. Imagine something like the recent Dragon Age: Inquisition. The player has a home base, and then can go out to explorable scenes that might lead them to a rabbit-hole mission. Using an existing game as an example: Imagine if in Unnatural, instead of choosing the cases from a list after the previous one is complete, your agent actually gets to go out into the city and discover the cases on their own! That would be neat.
Obviously, it’s difficult to do (though I am trying with my own WIPs), but this topic isn’t for discussing the logistics. It’s about dreams!
So how about y’all? Got any thoughts about where you’d like to see these kinds of games heading in the future? I want to hear about it!
I’d like to be able to play against someone with gamebook. You know like couch co-op. You play then it’ll switch over to a different character then it switches back and eventually you’ll fight each other or something.
Also I’d love to see a kingdom ruler game. One where you manage your kingdom and try to take over the world one country at a time.
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My dream game would be to have two stories interactive with one another, so that you play it with a friend.
Every time you finish a chapter, it sends that info off to influence the chapter that your friend is playing. You can play with or against each other, and for the most time you won’t even know what they are doing.
It would be especially fun with a horror game, imagine four different entwining storylines…
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My dream game would be to play as the overlord from RPGs, where you can recruit monsters, train your own demonic generals, and take over the world( or save it depending on what you do).
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A supervillain game or a game similar to that mentioned above
I’ve stated my dream game. And I’ve just seen my nightmare game. Has anyone heard of this indie game called Presentable Liberty? Look it up. It uhm it’s got them feels. It’s only about an hour or so long but give it a shot.
I didn’t make this game but I think it’s something you should at least try.
http://gamejolt.com/games/adventure/presentable-liberty/42997/
Community College Villain should be published sometime in 2017!
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Lol oh? Will we be fighting our old MC?
I’m not sure how popular this idea, but I’ve been thinking about the possibility of making an interactive graphic novel. Yes? No? Maybe?
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I think just something that has super branching and choices lead to super different places and something with super deep characters and choices that really affect relationships.
Mirabella, we share the same dream. I wish CCH could be one. I think well done graphic novels are my favorite type of literature because the writer can focus on plot and dialogue while the art does the rest.
Where can we find a supertalented artist willing to do a few hundred pages for like 10 bucks a page??
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Don’t want to derail the thread but maybe!! I’ll talk more about it on the CCH thread.
@Razgriz and @malinryden ; I’ve actually dabbled in the ideas you’re mentioning. I wrote a small story that had four protagonists, and actually suggested that the player get someone else to play the other characters for optimal result (to steer players away from fixing a result by having all the characters act the same way, for example). It was interesting but unfortunately I have a million other things to do so I never finished it. As far as a true multi-game experience, I’d imagine you could do it with save importation, but as that is handled on CoG’s end of things, I have no real idea how that works in the code so I couldn’t say for sure.
@HornHeadFan and @Mirabella ; I’m actually working on one of those! It’s going to take seven centuries to finish it, but hey, at least now I know there’s a potential audience. I definitely think an interactive GN would be super fun.
As for y’all supervillain lovers, I know of several villain WIPs and I think there’s going to be an official Choice of Villain game as well, so your dream may come true.
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A game where I’m building a merchant empire. It can still have tons of moral choices, about what you’re selling and who you’re selling it too. If you survive during depressions and times of war, and how you ended up doing that. Delves into how you deal with the common people, poor people, nobles and royalty alike. Do you spend your money wisely and build your empire stronger, or do you floss like it’s going out of style? Ahh screw it, I need to learn coding and write it myself.
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I love that idea! Are you picturing any particular historical era, like Medieval Europe, Ancient Rome, etc?
My ideal game would be in a setting were I can make everyone happy or convince the enemy to stop it’s evil ways. Many RPG’s are still focused on combat so that, no matter your choice, you’re still forced to slay the enemy. When there are times I didn’t want to for the ‘enemy’ wasn’t always wrong, they had good intentions but were just a bit to extreme.
The games I enjoy most are those related to superheroes for you have the chance to save people and fight evil. My main objection to those games though, is their habit of potraying everything in black and white with no gray in-between. This is way I hate superhero comics for the story is always one-sided and it rarely surprises me. My latest discovery on ‘how to make the enemy like me’ would be the Force persuade options in the SWtOR game. It forces the opponent to like you or back down but it also deprives them of their free will and I don’t like to do that either (Although the ridiculousness of the situation can also make me laugh).
So in conclusion I would like a game were I can make everyone happy by either charming them or by using unbeatable arguments so they’ll see that their way of doing things is too extreme.
Of course this would be a really difficult thing to archieve because everone has their own values and opinions.
On a lighter note I also like games with a rather straight-forward apprach. Pick an ability and the story progresses around this peculair ability. Or pick a goal (love, power, money) and stay constant in your decicions in order to reach it. They setting can be smaller so it is easier to play (and easier to make xD)
That’s a good question, and one I was just considering the other day and decided to go for Medieval Europe time period. (Possibly making it a punk genre after I finish hashing out the general feel for it all)
I really like sci fi games. Get out and explore the universe. So much that can be done with such a setting. Including super powers. I’d kinda like to see a game where you’re the captain of a starship. Have a big space opera setting, with a crew from all over the galaxy.
Also, this is just a nitpick, but I’d kinda like to see a game some time that let’s you be the playah. If there’s 4 romantic options, you can bed every single one. Probably piss a few off in the process. But it should be an option if the player wants to. Or if they want a stable monogamous relationship, that should be an option too. Just something I thought of, because the latter option is usually the only one.
My dream game would be all the CoG games merged into one giant sandbox game, even if continuities would contradict horrifically.
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While I do enjoy the games that provide some depth with relationships and character progression, I also really enjoy a good 'ol adventure or dungeon plundering tale - very D&D like.
I was a huge fan of Life of a Wizard and its group questing chapters. Basically, more of that with slightly more elaborate / strategic combat options.
Yes… I think I’ll make that game! 
