Oct 3, 2017 • 4 min read
Reincarnation Game first
Using this space to develop game concept ideas.
A game with reincarnation as a mechanic. The player doesn’t know at the start, but the world will be destroyed by the end of the game, and if the player plays all the way through they will see it. Death is inevitable, not just by game end, but during as well. When you die, you come back as a new character. What kind of character will depend on how many compassion points you have.
Compassion points are earned or lost during specific encounters of animals that are in need, and by how the player interacts with enemies. Higher compassion points means that the player will get a character with increased movement abilities, faster, jumping, flying, etc. Lower compassion points gets the player a character with slower, more restricted movement. To the point of becoming a crawling grub with no abilities. However there will be more chances to increase your compassion points while playing a restricted character (time based compassion events?). By the end of the game, the world is destroyed and you become a star, no matter how you played.
Motivation will be the story and world exploration, as you will need a high movement character to keep up with characters, events, and reach certain locations. Story characters should also remember player interactions and what animal the player was a the time of interaction.
Story</h2>Story is central to everything. The story plays out regardless of player interaction, but the player should be rewarded for keeping up and seeking interaction with main characters. Story enriching scenes could depend on a mix of time and compassion point restraints, while a more general story is presented to a player that takes their time or has less than ideal CP. It may be an option to ignore the story entirely for players purposely playing “badly”.
- Needs to be events that will require interaction from player and characters will remember what the player does as well as what form the player is in.
- characters should reference past player lives often
- if the player performs well in game, characters will become more attached, and distraught should the player die. Possibly effecting the story in key scenes.
- slow player movement speed, or inability to jump/fly, will bar them from more detailed scenes and character development
- option to follow different characters?
- There should be some story benefits to being a character with restricted movements, for replayability sake. Maybe a non interactive side story?
Mechanics: ###I imagine isometric world, but that’s not especially important.
The world should have lots of enemies and traps. Platforming style gameplay. It should be very difficult to stay alive. Defending yourself from an attacking enemy won’t effect your compassion points, but attacking an idle enemy will.
Death
- will result in some compassion points lost in order to motivate the player.
- will respawn the character to a random location on the map.
- will also reset any quests that the player is currently on. Either the player will have to find the character that initiated the quest and start over, or the quest and any benefit it offered will be forfeited.
Compassion Points
- Can be earned or lost at key points in the story. Heavy weighted scenes will sometimes result in scripted death of the player.
- It will be compassion based on how many characters the choice affects during that scene, including unseen characters as long as they are directly implied. IE: Buying all stock from a store despite shop keep warning that prices will increase for all customers.
- Player speculation shouldn't be a factor. If a player helps a npc in a scripted moment of need and that npc goes on to hurt other npcs in future scenes the player will still receive positive compassion points. For simplicity’s sake.
- There will be points on the map where players can help or harm animals or non-story characters to affect their CP. If the player has a high movement character then these locations will be fewer and farther apart. These locations will be pivitol for players getting the highest movement character type and unlocking the most intimate scenes of the story.
Levels of compassion: a basic hierarchy from high movement to low:
- Bird - unlimited map access (except for isolated stories for players that play poorly)
- dog/cat - speedy and can jump small walls
- rodent - decent speed but can’t jump
- grasshopper/cricket - slow, but can jump
- grub - slow, no jump
source: [https://saturdayxiii.tumblr.com/post/166005690104](https://saturdayxiii.tumblr.com/post/166005690104)
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Oct 3, 2017 • 1 min read
Reincarnation Game Story
Overall: the world will end. Start with player saving food production for their nation. This introduces the mechanics, of course, and the player dies at the end. This same device that the player dies for is what kills the entire planet in the end.
The main arch of the story involves a childish leader of a nation defending their country (and pride) from an unseen foreign threat. Both sides have world devastating devices at their disposal.
Player’s character never has a real place in the story. General story takes place with or without them, but they do have influence. If player lives long and sees many interactions, characters that they spend time with will become attached to them. If player dies regularly, characters may still remember key scenes and reflect confidence/reluctance based on past actions. A confident character will play a stronger role in the story.
Possible main characters and story angles:
- The right-hand man: Loyal and fully trusts the leader. Genuinely thinks their side is in the right and must defend their ideals at any cost.
- The princess and the spy: Tragic love story.
- the ruined prisoner: possible horror story, prisoner branded traitor for wanting peace between the nations, eventual martyr.
source: https://saturdayxiii.tumblr.com/post/166013183424
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