Idea for an eroge

There are two kinds of eroge. Those that are plot with porn, and those that are porn with plot. This is the former, with the tropes of the latter.

A normal, average Japanese teenager wakes up to a normal day. At the breakfast table, his little sister seems a bit more reserved than usual. At school, he finds that his childhood friend is a bit shy about talking to him. The class president barks at him rather harshly- more so than usual. Everything seems a little bit off. It isn't for a few days that he realizes that he's in an eroge- a very smutty one at that. People he's known for his entire life have been reduced to stereotypes. Needless to say, he doesn't take this very well. After a slight internal breakdown, the game's first choice is presented.

This is where the game's save system comes into play. You see, this game doesn't have a normal save system. Instead, it tracks which choice points you've encountered, and which choices you've taken. As the game progresses this becomes a large map, filling itself with your choices. At any time you can exit to this map and go to any other point in the game you've already been to. This is essentially an automation of what eroge players already do- make a map of choices and save at every opportunity. The catch is that the PC remembers his choices, and new ones appear as he gathers more intel. Thus, the player might want to go down a bad end in order to learn something.

Obake -crazy bullets

Ponicalica showed me a tech demo he made recently for what i'm calling crazy bullets. Here's a short explanation from the man himself.

"Every frame, they set their horizontal velocity to one of -4 and 4 and their vertical velocity to one of -3.5 and 4.5.

Basically, it's one of these except tweaked a bit to get the bullets to drift down."

I'm not sure how to write these into the fluff just yet. I was thinking that what the player sees is an abstraction of what's actually out there, for the player's and the PC's convenience. This doesn't change the gameplay at all, but provides a good explanation for why the bullets are so visible. The crazy bullets appear a lot bigger than they actually are in gameplay, though. The circle that the player sees is just where the bullet is likely to be at that given moment. It's dangerous, but you can plow through a field of crazy bullets and not get hit.

This doesn't seem like something a lot of players would risk, though. Perhaps area denial is a better role for the crazy bullets? It'd tie in with the fluff, as well. UAVs can't be sure exactly where these bullets will be, so they steer clear entirely.

Transcendant State info

Note to self: fill out the section below, but don't forget to write about areas other than the poor cities. Talk about the capital as well.

Note to others: this isn't done yet. Feel free to read, but there's more coming.

Leprosy is common in certain areas. Those not inoculated are forced to adopt prosthetics, for obvious reasons. Official prosthetic surgeons are often weeks away and far too expensive for the common leper, so being a street doc is a profitable business. Street docs tend to be somewhat lax about safety, unless it directly concerns them. Street prosthetics tend to be rather haphazard and cheap, and aren't always accepted by the body. The process of installing the prosthetic is very painful and bloody, necessitating the application of painkillers. Unfortunately for would-be cyborgs, the only available painkiller is a homemade alcoholic drink that usually contains motor oil among other creative ingredients. This is also used as an antiseptic.

More notes.

Somehow, a Transcendant State spy has managed to infiltrate (MAGIC NATION). Your job is to take the place of his contact, and reroute any useful information to us.

(MAGIC NATION) technology is about advanced as Earth's, minus anything to do with computers. It's never stated outright, but (MAGIC NATION) are kind of like the Amish. It's not that they hate technology or advancement, but that certain things are outlawed- mostly computers and prosthetics.

Opening for an RPG idea

The player starts in an office, at a computer. The PC is reading an article titled Cartographer I project delayed, researchers refuse to explain why. We hear a door opening, and the PC quickly alt-tabs to a program with various data on it. He swings around to face the person that just entered the room. It is a man in his late twenties, wearing a lab coat.

PC: Yes?

PERSON IN LAB COAT: Well, since we're going to be using your soul for the project, we thought it would only be right for you to decide the physical features of the host body. I've uploaded a program to our intranet. You can use that to decide what you'll look like in your next life. It's in a hidden folder in the main directory, so you should be able to find it pretty quickly.

PC: Thanks. I'll get right on it.

PERSON IN LAB COAT: I'll leave you to it, then. (beat) By the way, your reaction times have slowed. I managed to read that headline before you switched windows.

PC: (muttering) Dammit...

The PC opens a terminal window and opens the program. Another window pops up, and this is where the player designs their character. Options are body shape, skin tone, facial features, sex, etc. The player also names the PC here.

Once the player is done, fade to black.

The player sees nothing, initially. After a few seconds, the player's eyes open to reveal a white room with a door. It takes a few seconds for their eyes to focus. The PC is on a bed, and gets up. The PC stumbles for a bit before regaining its balance.

VOICE: Ah, you're awake. Glad to see that, I am. How are you feeling? Good, I take it? If not, feel free to rest.

PC: What's going on? Where am I?

VOICE: Hm. Seems you haven't recovered any of your personal memories yet. At least you know our language. Anyway, you are the result of an experiment to capture a soul and put it in a dormant body. As you can tell, the experiment was a success. You are free to leave the room now. If you have any questions- and I'm sure you do, feel free to direct them to anyone who's not working.

The player hears a click, and a light just above the door handle changes from red to green. Once the player exits the room, they are free to explore the lab. Talking to the staff lets you learn more about the project, and the surrounding world. You can also visit an obstacle course and a firing range, as a combat tutorial. It's about lunchtime when you wake up, so there are a lot of people with free time. The in-game clock doesn't advance until the player exits the lab, by the way. This section of the game is basically a tutorial, so the player isn't required to talk to all of these people and is thus skippable. I'm looking at you, Custom Robo.

At the firing range, the player has access to various firearms and is allowed to train with them. The guns available are mostly (BORDER NATION) weapons, but a few (CYBERPUNK NATION) and (MAGIC NATION) weapons are there as well. You are allowed to fire at targets, and can choose the range. Moving targets are available as well.

The person at the firing range has some knowledge he's willing to spare you for, mostly about weapons. Which weapons are best for what situations, the differences between various manufacturers, etc. He talks at some length, and you have the option to request (politely or not) that he stop.

He also mentions a challenge he has for you. Give him however much money you're willing to bet. Complete the challenge, and he'll double it. Try as many times as you want. The challenge is designed to be impossible, but you can win it. You'll just have to cheat. Sneak in your own weapon, mod it, use special ammo, rig the course, etc. If he isn't going to play fair, you don't have to either. Bet a small to medium amount, and you'll get double if you win. If you bet a lot, he'll still accept, thinking that you can't win. If you beat him, he'll admit this and offer you everything he has on him. Since this challenge was off the books from the start, and he tried to con you, you have a lot of leverage. Thus, you have a few options.

1) Give me the money.

2) Bullshit. You're holding out. (He is. If your speech skill is high enough, you get the extra cash. If not, you get the regular amount and he hates you a little more. May be this could tie into a later quest?)

3) Keep your money. I'll take a favor. (He thinks you're talking about a sexual favor, which the PC corrects. I'm not sure what to do with this option. Maybe have it tie into the same quest? Any advantage this gives you should not be required to complete said quest, but would make it easier.)

4) Keep your money. I'll take a gun. (He can't give you one of the range's weapons, since they're all licensed to the range and kept in stock. If one of them went missing, the bureaucrats would know. Instead, you get to choose from his collection. All the guns have women's names. Mabel, Vera, Beatrice, Jayne, Seras, etc.)

Whether you take the challenge or not, you can pay this guy to mod your weapons.

In the cafeteria, the player can ask about the outside world. If they do, they're directed to a specific person. In-game, this is because he knows a lot about history, politics, etc. Design-wise, it's so a bunch of dialog doesn't have to be recorded several times over by different VAs. Once the player talks to this person, they can discuss the following topics.

- What is the soul transfer project? (An experiment to capture and transplant a soul into a dormant body. The project director's health was failing, so he offered himself as the donor.)

- I remember the name Cartographer I. Do you know what that is? (The Cartographer I is the first man-made satellite, currently under development. Its main purpose is to see what's behind the Fog Wall.)

-- Fog Wall (A border of fog surrounding the continent, about three miles from the shore in every direction. Nobody that has gone into the Fog Wall has ever returned. The player doesn't learn this for some time, but it's actually utility fog.)

- What's outside the lab? (Player's question is answered, and conversation turns to the political state and how it got there. From then on the player can ask about any of these topics.)

-- (MAGIC NATION)

--- Magic (Not as diverse as the magic you'd find in a "normal" fantasy setting, but very powerful. The downside is that you're literally using your soul as ammunition. It's also possible to absorb memories, adding them to your soul. This results in more "ammunition" for spells, but is likely to drive the receiver insane. Since this isn't like regular fantasy magic, maybe I should call it something else?)

---- Sleeper agents with false memories

--- Political state

-- (BORDER NATION)

--- History and founding (Born out of the latest of many conflicts between (MAGIC NATION) and (CYBERPUNK NATION). The two nations have been fighting for as long as anyone can remember. )

--- Political state

-- (CYBERPUNK NATION)

--- Prosthetics (Think Ghost in the Shell. Prosthetic eyes are common, as are minor body mods. In the poorer cities, you can't afford a good prosthetic. Thus, infections and rejection from the body are common problems. Moonshine is a common antibiotic.)

--- Political state

Quest idea for Operation Mindfuck

Your (BORDER NATION) contact mentions a suspicious man they found. he claims to have lost his memory, but he is really a dangerous man working for the (BLACK MAGIC NATION). Since using black magic uses your soul (and thus memories) as ammunition, it is possible that he may be telling the truth. It is up to the player to determine what to do. Options are as follows;

Kill him- better safe than sorry.

Not sure yet- keep him around for study.

He's harmless- keep him around, and give him a life here.

He's harmless- Tell him the truth, and let him decide what he wants to do.

He's useful- Lie to him. Since he has no memories, he has no reason not to trust you.

(Note: Make up a new name for this game.)

Some notes

Idea for Obake's final mission: Mid-mission, you get cut off from command. You're going up against impossible odds. You're fucked. When you get cut off, the music stops and is replaced with white noise. This continues until the level is over, or whenever comms are restored.

The goal of this is to make the player really feel like they're fucked. It will be hard. Very hard. But if the player can push through the barrage of bullets and defeat the immense force, they will feel an incredible sense of relaxation.

I might want to expand on this a bit. Mention it on IRC, and possibly with William on GTalk if he doesn't join the chat.

Another idea; Faptau saves the day by being the only Tau actually good at melee. All that wanking did some good, I guess.

Colliding Worlds

I thought of this on the bus. Here's the chat I had with Blackmoon when I bounced the game idea off him. Additional notes are below.

----

Joel:

I had an interesting idea for a game on the bus home.

Ever played Knytt?

mysticblackmoon:

Nope.

Joel:

Well, it's a bit like a Metroidvania, only there's no specific order and very few enemies.

Really though, the focus is the scenery porn.

mysticblackmoon:

Alright.

Joel:

Look it up some time.

Anyway, my idea was pretty much that, only in 3D and with Mirror's Edge or Assassin's Creed-style parkour.

mysticblackmoon:

Hm.

So it'd be kinda like the 2008 Prince of Persia, but not suck?

Joel:

Yeah.

Oh, and I liked that game.

mysticblackmoon:

It was pretty, but not fun.

Joel:

Well, I liked it. I guess we can agree to disagree.

I was thinking that the setting would be a bunch of different landscapes sort of shoved together.

mysticblackmoon:

Indeed.

Hm.

Joel:

If you can't imagine what I'm talking about, think a patchwork map.

mysticblackmoon:

No, I kinda kinda imagine.

Joel:

The plot (or what little plot there'd be) would be about this.

Basically, something has caused these plots of land to be removed from their original place and be smooshed together here. In order to get the land (and yourself) back to their original places, you have to collect these MacGuffins.

mysticblackmoon:

Hm.

You think you'll ever work on it?

Joel:

Maybe.

I'll put what I just said on my blog.

If I ever have the resources to make this kind of game, I'll probably go digging through my blog for inspiration.

That's where Obake came from, actually.

mysticblackmoon:

I see.

Joel:

Yeah.

It's very useful that way.

----

The PC is a short-haired blond women, possibly wearing a white hoodie. The parkour person with a hoodie is kind a cliché, though. I'm not sure if I want to do that. Hope is a possible name for the character. Dunno why.

As I hinted, the main focus of the game is the scenery porn. The plot coupons and parkour are there to give the game some actual content. Scenery porn is like a condiment- if used right, it can make something much better. It just can't work by itself.

The plot coupons give Hope knowledge and abilities. Say, the first plot coupon she picks up lets her sense what general direction plot coupons are in. Others might improve her parkour. In fact, maybe this is how she learns it. This also lets us explain the plot easily. Whenever she picks up a coupon, we're treated to a little video that shows what Hope has learned. Again, easy plot device.

Just an idea I had.

I first typed this up stream-of-consciousness to a friend of mine via GTalk, so that's why the paragraph breaks are the way they are.

The protagonist is a normal guy in high school/college/whatever fits the story best.

He's also kind of a loser.

So, this girl he's had a crush on for a while finally starts to take interest in him.

And becomes his girlfriend.

And has sex with him.

And becomes subservient to him.

And so does everybody else- he suddenly starts getting better grades, etc.

I'm not when he'd realize this, but he's a subconscious reality warper, not unlike Haruhi.

Even when he realizes this though, he can't control it.

The world starts to seem like a dream.

I'm not sure where I'd go from there, but whatever happens would be very fucked up, mind-boggling, weird, and very, very, interesting.

Escape From San Francisco

I've always thought that San Francisco is a beautiful city. I've also wondered why no sandbox games are set there. Sure, San Andreas has something resembling it and Crackdown is obviously inspired by it, but there's no games that actually take place in the city. I for one, would like to change that.

I don't have much of a plot yet, so for now I'll just put out bullet points.

• The PC is a cyborg- I've always liked the concept of a cyborg. The augs should be pretty obvious- it looks cool, and shows who and what the PC is.
• Mechanical monsters called "Jackals". Ten foot long black quadrupedal hunters with huge claws and more flexibility than seems possible. Nanotech, maybe? They also have hexagonal half-domes in place of heads. It's one big sensory organ- they can't sense anything else. It detects various forms of radiation (including visible light) and sound. The Jackals also have a very good sense of direction, and will not stop at any cost.
• Ooh! A revelation! The PC is an early cyborg, hence the appearance. The Jackals based off newer tech, which uses nanomachines to do most of the work. There should be big dudes with nanoaugs as well.
• The player should be able to move through the city very easily. Something a little like what games like Just Cause 2 and Prototype do. Some way for the player to get in the air quickly and easily. I also liked the building climbing of Assassin's Creed, The Saboteur, and Crackdown. Maybe have something like that, but more flashy and automated? Euphoria or another similar engine might be a good choice.

Shiny New Australia

An idea for a manga or something I had a while ago. One person (Let's call him Bob for now) has conquered the world. As a gift, he's given Australia to his best friend Alice. Alice believes that what Bob has done is utterly wrong, and does everything in her power to dethrone Bob and free the world.

So she accepts.

Well, she accepts, but she's really preparing for a huge coup, dismantling Bob's power in the meanwhile via underhanded trickery and other tactics worthy of a true Chessmaster.

Unfortunately, that's all I have for now. I'll have to mention this to some tropers, see what they think of it.